Turn with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 90. Psalm 90. I just mentioned. A dear brother to you who has been
told by doctors that he has a limited time to live. And I have been thinking about
him and I've been praying for him and praying for his family.
I have been very much thinking about him. And thinking on his situation
led me to something that I'd like for us to consider tonight.
And I mean really consider tonight. I pray that the Lord will really
impress something on us tonight. Moses said, Moses is the one
who wrote Psalm 90. And Moses said in verse 12, teach
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Teach us to number our days. Our brother has been given a
number. It's a range, but it's a number. Our Lord is the great physician.
He's able to overrule no matter what man says. Our God is the God who gives. Our God is the one who kills
and makes alive and wounds and heals. Our God is the God who
gives and our God is also the God who can take away. He's fully
able to just take away. Only he truly knows the days
of a man or a woman's life. Only he does. All of our days
are in his hands. All of our days are in his hands. But if the diagnosis of our brother
is in agreement with the Lord's providence concerning him, then
he has been given a number of days that he has left on this
earth. This thought goes through my
mind. What would I do if I was given a number of days that I
had left? What would I do? The lowest number on the range
that has been given to our brother is two months. Two months. Two months. What if somebody told you that
you had two months left on this earth? Really, I mean, really. Two months. What would you do? What would
you do? I talked to him yesterday. I
talked to him on the phone yesterday and he, He said the hospital
in New York told him they felt six months to two years. And, oh, he was such an encouragement
to me. If you want to be encouraged,
call him. He believes in the God of Scripture. He believes
in the God of salvation, the God of eternal life. He said,
my days were appointed from the foundation of the world. They're
still appointed. They hadn't changed. That day, whatever that
day is, it was appointed long ago. It hadn't changed. But even if that number was two years,
okay, on the upper side, they're saying if treatment goes well,
two years, even if the number was two years, what would you
do with the next two years? What would you do? What if the number was five years?
What would you do? Five years, that's it, five years. I am 45 years and seven months
old. My mother was called home at
48 years and one month home. Two years and six months difference. What if a doctor told me you
have two years A few months, maybe, left. That's it, two more
years, that's it. What would I do? What if that
absolute reality hit me? Two more summers. What are y'all
gonna do this summer? Two more summers, two more Christmases,
two more anniversaries. What would I do? Don't you think, honestly, that
that would make us want to get our priorities in order? Don't you think it would? If that were to happen to us,
I pray that that would make us single in on our priority. That's what I pray would happen. Moses said in verse 12, teach
us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, teach us to apply our hearts
to you. Teach us to apply our hearts our affections, our desires,
our teach us, teach us. A moment like that comes to a
brother or a sister and the Lord in that moment has just taught
that brother or sister something. They've learned something. Teach
us to apply our hearts to you. Now here's what I wanna say to
all of us. I want all of us to know this. I want everybody here
to know this. Every person here has a number. Every person here right now has
a number. Every person here has an exact
number of days left. We just haven't been told what
they are. You know the difference in a
person who is told that number and a person who's not told that
number? The difference is the other person
just hasn't been told what they are. Every person here has an
exact number of days left on this earth. May God teach us
to live life on this earth as though we had been told what
they are. If I was told that I had two
years and six months left, at 52 weeks a year, he told us to
number, he told us to do some calculations, and I did get my
calculator out. At 52 weeks a year, two years
and six months is 130 worship services, according to how we
do things here. I would have 130 more worship
services. And then I'm gonna go meet God. And then I'm going to stand before
the eternal judgment of God Almighty. May God teach me honestly to
cherish each worship service. Wednesday night is not a throwaway
service. It's not. There's no difference
in Wednesday night or Sunday morning. There's no difference
in Wednesday night or the Lord's table. Doesn't matter when you
do the Lord's table. There's no difference in a conference
or a... Honestly, we're about to go meet God. May God sincerely,
I'm just talking about me, and I want this for you. I am talking
about us, because I want God to teach us this. I want us to
be taught people. I mean taught people. But may
God start with me and may it filter from there. May God teach
me to cherish every worship service as though I was counting down
how many I had left, how many opportunities I had left. May
God give me a heart for Christ and may God give me a heart to
tell other people about Christ as though my opportunities to
tell that person were counting down. This person that I love,
and I'm gonna physically lay eyes on that person another hundred
times, 20 times. Okay, I'm down to three times.
This is my, I don't know it, but this is my last time. What
do I wanna tell them? There is one thing needful in
this life. Christ. That's it. That's it, Christ. This is what
I want us to really learn. I pray the Lord would apply this
to us and teach us this. A man doesn't need work. A man doesn't need work. He needs Christ. A man doesn't
need to save up for retirement. He needs Christ. A man does not need, I'm talking
about need, health, wealth, or happiness. Our brother doesn't
need health. He needs Christ. We need Christ, that's it. We
need Christ, that's it. May God teach us to live our
life on this earth and live every single day that we have here
as though we had one need, one need, Christ, Christ, Christ. It's going to take the Lord teaching
us. We don't even want to learn that
until he of his goodness and sovereign will says, learn it. May God do that for us. We can't
do it for ourselves, but may God do that for us. Christ. If a man or woman has Christ,
he or she has a retirement. If a man and a woman has Christ,
meaning a husband and wife, a believing husband and wife, if they both
have Christ, they're never going to lose each other. They're never
going to lose each other. They will be together with Him
in the end. They're gonna be separated for
a moment. We're about to read here in just a moment where our
Lord said, a thousand years to God is as one day to us. In God's time, spiritually speaking,
losing a believing spouse, if a man or a woman loses a believing
spouse for 20 years here, That's like 20 minutes, spiritually
speaking. If a man or a woman has Christ,
he will have all the health, all the wealth, all the happiness that can be had, that can be
had. If men and women have Christ,
they have everything. Based on our brother's profession,
he has everything. He has everything. May God teach
all of us who have everything to apply our hearts to that.
Everything, our everything, our all. May God teach all of us
and give all of us a heart to say this with Moses, all right? Look with me if you would at
verse one. He said, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place
in all generations. Lord, we live in you. You're our home. You are our home. You're our
continuing city. You're our city which has foundations.
You are, you have been, you will forever be the home of all your
people from generation to generation. Every generation of God's people,
every generation has experienced a life on this earth that's full
of trouble, and full of sin and full of sorrow and full of sickness. Every generation of God's people
has experienced that and deliverance from sorrow,
sin, sickness, trouble. Because of our deliverance, our
deliverance on the cross, because of our deliverance on the cross
of Calvary, we're gonna experience a deliverance from all this.
Because of our deliverance from the penalty and power of sin,
we're gonna experience a deliverance from the effects of sin. He's gonna do that for us like
he's done that for every soul that's ever been on this earth,
generation to generation. Verse one says, Lord, thou has
been our dwelling place in all generations, Before the mountains
were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the
world even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thank God we have a God. We have a God we can hope in. We
have a God we can look to and trust in and rely on and rest
in. We're not alone. We are not alone. We have our God. Verse 1 says,
Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations, before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou
art God. Thou turnest man to destruction
and sayest, Return, ye children of men. That verse has Scripture
references to Genesis 3 and Ecclesiastes 12. And this is what they say.
You don't have to turn, but they say, Genesis says, dust thou
art and to dust shalt thou return. And he said, God does that. You're
in control of that. Ecclesiastes says, and the spirit,
the soul shall return to the God who gave it. Dust is going
to return back to the earth and soul is going to go back to God
who gave it on whose authority. Moses said yours, yours alone. You do that. Verse three says,
thou turnest man to destruction and sayest, return ye children
of men, for a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday
when it is passed and as a watch in the night. A thousand years
to us are like yesterday to God. Spiritually speaking, our lifetime
on this earth is one hour and 40 minutes. Thousand years is
like 24 hours. 500 years is like 12 hours. 250 years is like six hours. 125 years is like three hours.
You keep going. Our life, in God's timing, God
doesn't have timing, but if we could think of it in that way,
it is an hour and 40 minutes. A whole life of man. And we, after God reveals himself
to us and we realize our need of him, we spend the rest of
our days on this earth crying, how long? That's what God's people
cry. How long? How long? Look at verse 13, Psalm 90 verse
13. It says return. Oh Lord, how
long, how long is it going to be? We're such children, aren't
we? Just little children. You know,
that's a child for you. An hour and 40 minutes or something.
How long? Thank God we're His little children. Back in verse 4, it says, For
a thousand years in thy sight, or but as yesterday when it is
past, and as a watch in the night, Thou carryest them away as with
a flood, they are as asleep. In the morning they are like
grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth
and groweth up. In the evening it is cut down
and withereth. It goes by so fast. Life on this
earth is so fast, it is such a vapor. It's here, then it's gone. It's
here, then it's gone. And we're so shocked when gone
comes. We're always so shocked. There has not been a soul standing
on the earth that has not gone back to the God who gave it.
And every time it happens, we're shocked. What? A soul went back
to God? A soul has been diagnosed as
almost headed back to God? Verse seven says, for we are
consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath are we troubled. That's
why it's here and then it's gone. Every man sins. That's why a
man's life, life is here and then gone. Every man sins. Therefore, every
man and woman is consumed by the anger and the wrath of God. Even God's people. They sin too, God's people sin
too. And God consumed them in his
anger and his wrath. He consumed them too. Do you know where? You know how? You know how he
consumed them in his anger and in his wrath? He consumed His
people in His own Son on the cross of Calvary. Isn't that
relieving? God is angry with the wicked
every day. You know what I am? Wicked. You know what God was
toward me? Angry. You know what God did
to me? He killed me. He judged me. He punished me. He condemned me. Where? In Christ
His Son. God consumed. Consumed means
He's gone. He consumed, like a fire consumes
something. Totally consumed. He consumed
the sin of His people by placing all that sin in His own Son. Then He consumed His Son. Verse
eight says, thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret
sins in the light of thy countenance. God the Father placed every sin
that we have committed, even the secret sins that we don't
know we have committed. How awful would it be if you
got to the throne of glory and found out one wasn't taken care
of? Oops, we missed that one. Let's
see, let's go back on the record. Like having how, have you ever
had your taxes audited? I have. It's not a good feeling. Wait till God, let's go back
on the record. Let's see, let's make sure. The
sins in that day, the sins of God's people are gonna be sought
for. Go back through the record and see if you can find one that
was missed. They shall be sought for. And
guess what? But there shall be none, even
the secret sins that we don't even know about. God the Father
laid all of them on Christ. And then he poured out his wrath
on Jesus Christ our Savior. Verse nine says, for all our
days are passed away in thy wrath. Thank God. All of our sinful
days have been put away and dealt with and covered in the blood
of our Savior. Verse nine goes on to say, we spend our years
as a tale that is told. I have spent my years as a tale
that's told. You have spent your years as
a tale that is told. And for all of God's people,
it's the same tale. I was nothing but a sinner against
God. That's all I was. But in Christ,
He loved me. And in Christ, He chose me. Why me? In Christ, He redeemed me. In
Christ, He called me. And in Christ, He is gonna carry
me home. When that blessed time comes,
when my numbers get down to zero, He's gonna carry me home. It's
not gonna be much longer. And he'll carry me home. That's
all of our story. Verse 10 says, the days of our years are three
score years in 10, 70 years. And if by reason of strength,
they be four score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow
for it is soon cut off and we fly away. The thing to focus
on and really take note of right there is, it is soon cut off. And we fly away. Spiritually
speaking, OK, if 1000 years is 24 hours for some, they're going
to be here. Spiritually speaking, an hour
and 40 minutes. Some may go to an hour and 55
minutes. For some, it may be only an hour
and five minutes. Not much difference. All of us. Very soon though,
we'll be cut off from this place and we will fly away. Verse 11
says, who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to
thy fear, so is thy wrath. Outside of Christ, the fear of
that anger and that wrath is yet to come. Outside of Christ,
men and women are going to know the power of his anger. Man thinks
he understands the power of God's anger against sin, but he doesn't. Who knows the power of his anger
against sin? Our Savior does. Every soul in Christ, that wrath
is already over, that anger is already over, that fear is already
over. In Christ, all that's left is
this, fear not. In Christ, that's all that's
left. Fear not, I am with thee, be not dismayed, I am thy God,
I will still give thee aid. Verse 12, he said, so teach us
to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. That means come to. Apply our hearts means come to
Christ. Teach us to number our days that
we may come to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Verse 13 says,
return, O Lord, how long? And let it repent thee concerning
thy servants. That particular word repent means
comfort, console, send comfort. Let comfort come from you. Lord,
console us till you return for us. Verse 14 says, O satisfy
us early with thy mercy. that we may rejoice and be glad
all thy days. Satisfy us early. This was his
prayer. This is our prayer. Satisfy us
early with thy mercy that we may rejoice and be glad all our
days. It doesn't matter whether he
calls us to himself and calls us to a knowledge of his mercy
toward us on the last day that we're on this earth, like the
thief on the cross. Our Lord revealed Himself and
revealed mercy to Him on His last day. It doesn't matter if
it's on the last day or if it's on the first day like John the
Baptist. It doesn't matter either way.
Has no difference either way. The same result either way. Mercy
in His blood means eternity with Him either way. But the earlier
in life that it is, The longer we have to rejoice and be glad
in it. The earlier in life, he said
in verse 14, satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice
and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the
days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have
seen evil. Make us glad in spite of everything
that we see in ourselves. Make us glad. Let us see your
mercy. The mercy that covers everything
that we see right here. The mercy that covers all of
this sin. Let us see the grace that has
led us and kept us all the way. Verse 16, He said, Let thy work
appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. Let your goodness be upon us
and please let it be upon our children. Our children are going
to go meet God too. It doesn't matter how old they
are. It doesn't matter how young they
are. Let it be on us. Let it be on
our children. Reveal yourself to us. Reveal
yourself to our children. Let us see your glory. Let them
see your glory. God be merciful to us. Verse
17, He said, And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. That is truly a beautiful line.
Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Let us see it. Let us enter into it. Because
of our substitution with Christ, let us come before you wearing
it. Let us wear the very righteousness
of His own beauty. Let us be covered in His beauty. Let the beauty of the Lord our
God be upon us, and establish thou the work. Who establishes
the work? Establish thou the work of our
hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands, establish
thou it. That means, Would you work in
us to will and do of your good pleasure? Whatever works are
gonna be applied to us, would you establish them? Would you
do them? Would you let Christ's work be
on us? Would you let Christ's work be
given to our account, applied to our account? Our works were
charged to him, would you please let his works be charged to us? Now, I am very serious in this
moment. I'm very, very serious. Let's
ask the Lord. There are, generally speaking,
we forget to pray. And when we do pray, we don't
know what to pray for. And we struggle and we pray the
same things over and over again. And our Lord said, you have not
because you ask not. Let's ask the Lord to teach us
to number our days, honestly. Let's ask the Lord if he will
allow us to spend the rest of our days on this earth, truly
applying our hearts to him. Truly applying our hearts to
him. As though our numbers were almost done. The higher the age
and the day, the count up is the count down. And let's ask him honestly, Lord,
would you keep me? Would you keep me fervently interested
in Christ and fervently interested in the gospel and fervently interested
in worship? And don't let me veer off to
who knows where that could be my day. Let me be found sitting
at your feet, listening to your voice. Let me be Mary Magdalene. Please, please do this for me. Once He calls us home to Him,
there will be no more numbers. There'll be no more numbers.
Once our time is up here, there will be no more time. No more
time. Brother Scott Richardson was
a precious, precious preacher of the gospel. He preached for,
I guess, 60-something years. And when my dad went to Fairmont
and took over for him, Scott was still alive for eight years.
And dad had him not only preach as often as Scott would, but
every Sunday morning Scott read scripture. and made whatever
comments he felt led to make. And that precious man, I would
go up there and watch him and it would take him forever to
get from the pew to the pulpit and he would get up and just
slump on that pulpit. But everything he had to say
just You hung on his every word. Here was a man who had been in
the truth and been taught and been aged. And but one of the
things he said one time was he was reading a scripture on in
that day. In that day, when it's time to
go to glory and his comment was in that day, there's going to
be no more sin. There's going to be no more sorrow. There's
going to be no more pain. There's going to be no more tears.
And he said, there's going to be no more birthdays, no more
numbers, nothing else is going to change. Nothing's going to,
there's no more countdown, no more countdown to death. There's
no more death. That's over. It's just going
to be eternal life with Christ. Lord, teach us to number our
days to that moment. Honestly, teach us to look forward
to and rejoice in that moment for the glory that's that's waiting
for us with Christ. We hear of God taking his people. And we think poor soul, we can't
help it. That's what we think. And then
when God's spirit teaches us something for a little moment.
Oh, yeah. Glory is waiting for him. Glory
is waiting for her. Glory is waiting for us. That's
wisdom. That is wisdom. Teach us to apply
our hearts to wisdom. May the Lord apply our hearts
to that, honestly. All right, let's all stand together.