Turn with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 90. Psalm 90. The heading at the
top of my page says that Psalm 90 is all about the frailty and
brevity, and that means the shortness, just how brief. It is. It's all about the frailty and
brevity of human life. Few days full of trouble. The
frailty and the brevity of human life. I've had a reason this
week to think about that and to think about the instruction
that has been given to us here in Psalm 90. And I pray the Lord
will let us really enter into it together. I want to begin
by reading two verses to you, all right? The first one is verse
10. It says, the days of our years
are three score years and 10, 70 years. And if by reason of
strength, they be four score years, 80 years, some it'll be
a little more, some it'll be a little less. But it says the days of our years
are three score years and 10. 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. Verse 12 says,
so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts
unto wisdom. Teach us to number our days that
we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. If you number your days,
it's shocking how three score and 10, 70 years, if you do get
out a calculator and see how many you've already had and how
many are left, we would be wise to number our days. We really
would. Teach us to number our days that
we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. I spent this past Monday
night with a lady who is very dear to me. And she has lived
so far on this earth four score and 10 years, 90 years, all right? She is very quickly approaching
the end of her time on this earth as my heading states it, human
life. The end of her time in human
life. As I spent time with her Monday
night and I had the, I consider it a great privilege to have
some conversation with her. Three things really stood out
to me. They really did. I told Hannah
about them. These things just really stood
out to me. Number one, she was happy. It was noticeable. It was obvious. She was happy. Not healthy. Not healthy at all. Not healthy
at all. but she was happy. She was happy. Number two, she was content. And I mean content, not wealthy, not wealthy at all. I mean not
wealthy at all. She's in an assisted living home
and she has a borrowed bed a borrowed nightstand and a borrowed dresser. The only actual possessions that
she has, and she's happy and content and wants it to be so,
but the only actual possessions of her own that she has with
her is a recliner that she's had for a while and brought with
her. And next to that recliner is a big tall lamp that has a
round table attached to it where she sets her Bible and other
books and just a few other things. She's not wealthy at all, but
she is so content. A lot of people have gone to
see her recently and every person who has gone would tell you,
that's so. She tells everybody, I'm so content
here. She says it over and over. I'm
just so content. very well cared for, very much
loved. She's happy. She's content. And this is the third thing that
just blessed my soul so much as I just sat there and thought
about this whole thing. The whole reason I went up there.
Even though this precious woman has lost all of her health, There
was a time in her life when she was a mover and a shaker, and
she cannot move and cannot shake. And even though she's lost all
of her health and lost all of her wealth, and she's sitting there with
nothing left to her name, even so, this woman has been caused
by God the Father to bow the knee to Jesus Christ. And she has been allowed by God
the Father to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And she's
sitting there in the one and only chair that she has, looking
to Him, trusting in Him, and hoping in Him. And in Him, she's
about to lay hold of all things." That's what struck me in that
just start, not well-decorated room. In Christ, literally, everything
is waiting for her. Everything. She's about to leave
her human life with nothing. And she's about to enter her
spiritual eternal life with all things, all things. She's about to enter eternal
life with Jesus Christ. She's about to physically get
him. She's about to physically get him because before the foundation
of the world, he chose to lay hold of her. she's about to lay hold of him. All because he laid hold of her,
she's about to lay hold of him. And to have him is to have everything. That's literally what was going
through my mind. As I sat there looking at this,
this is what it has come down to. And this is what I say, everything,
you have everything. We had a little conversation
about that. You have everything. To have Jesus Christ is to have
everything. She's sitting right now at this
very moment, as far as I know, in a borrowed room with all that
borrowed stuff and has everything. She has everything. Everything is a person and his
name is Jesus Christ. She has everything. He has her,
she has him, she has everything. Verse 12 says, teach us to number
our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Wisdom, wisdom. The attainments of this human
life mean nothing. I want to start learning that. I don't, I don't believe I've
gotten a hold of that too well so far. I'd like to start learning
that right now. The attainments of this human
life mean nothing. They mean nothing. They don't
bring happiness and they don't bring contentment. Things don't
bring happiness. Things don't bring contentment.
Get one of them. See what happens. You just want
a different one. That's it. The attainment of
Christ means everything. It means everything. The man
or the woman who has a place among the richest people in this
world without Christ, they have nothing. But the man or the woman
who has a place among the poorest people of this world with Christ,
They have everything. They literally have everything. Our Lord said, and I pray that
God Almighty might burn this into my soul and all of ours.
Our Lord said, there is one thing needful. Oh, I pray our kids
learn that. I pray we learn it. I pray our
children learn that. There is one thing needful. Nothing apart from one thing. And that thing is Jesus Christ.
Moses said in Deuteronomy 32, he said, oh, that they were wise,
that they understood this, that they would consider their latter
end. To gain this world and to lose
Christ is to lose everything. It's to lose everything. And
to lose this world, but to gain Christ is to gain everything. Moses said right here, Moses
is the one who wrote Psalm 90. And he said, Lord, teach us that. This is his prayer. Teach us
that. Teach us this. Look with me at
verse one. He said, Lord, thou has been
our dwelling place in all generations. You have been our dwelling place. You've been our hiding place.
We've run to you for safety and deliverance in all our generations. Grandparents, parents, children,
grandchildren. Moses said, you're my God over
in Exodus 15. He said, you're my God. You are
my father's God. Same God. Every generation, there is only
one place for a center in need of salvation to run to. There's
only one place to go. Every generation of God's people,
all of them say to whom else can we go? It's the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
It's Christ alone. Verse one says, Lord, thou has
been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains
were brought forth or ever thou had formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God. What a wonderful statement from
everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God. What a truth that
that is. That's a, that's a glorifying
statement to the one who's worthy of it from everlasting to everlasting. You're God, you're God, you're
our hiding place, our dwelling place, our safety. Verse three,
he said, thou turnest man to destruction. And sayest return,
you children of men, you do with this man, what you want to do
with this man. And you do with that man, what
you want to do with that man. You're God, you're God. Verse
four 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, he says, just like yesterday, you're the eternal
God. Yesterday, today, forever. Doesn't it comfort you? Don't
you love the fact that God does not change? Don't you love that? He does not change. Verse five. Thou carryest them
away. He's talking about a thousand
years in thy sight. You carry those years away as
with a flood. They are as a sleep. In the morning,
they're like grass, which groweth up. In the morning, it flourisheth. It groweth up. In the evening,
it's cut down and withereth. You're the sovereign God. You're
the just God. You're the holy God. Verse seven
says, for we are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath
are we troubled. You're the God who is worthy
to be feared. You know, we need to be wise
and consider our ladder in because we're going out to meet a God
who's worthy to be feared. It is a fearful thing. This is
what Moses is saying. It's a fearful thing to fall
into your hands outside of Christ. Outside of the blood covering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, this is what he's saying.
I don't want to go meet you outside of the blood covering of Jesus
Christ. That's the one thing needful. Verse eight, he said, thou has
set our iniquities before they are secret sins in the light
of that countenance. You see it all. I wish men and
women were wise and understood this. He sees it all. People don't know that people
do not know that he sees it all. Moses said, everything that we
do in this human life, you see it all. We're going to stand
before the holy judge who must punish sin and he sees it all. My sin, your sin, he sees it
all. Verse nine says, for all our
days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale
that is told. The days of our years are three
score years in 10. 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. Where do we
go? When we fly away, where do we
go? Hold your place right here and go to Ecclesiastes 12. Ecclesiastes 12 verse one says, remember now thy creator in the
days of thy youth while the evil days come not nor the years draw
nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. This is
being wise and consider considering our ladder in remember him right
now. Right. Don't wait till tomorrow.
Tomorrow. We may not have a heart to. Verse
two, while the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not
darkened nor the clouds return after the rain in the day when
the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strong men shall
bow themselves and the grinder cease because they are few and
those that look out of the windows be darkened and the doors shall
be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low.
And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters
of music shall be brought low. He's talking about the day of
judgment, the day that is too late, the day that God comes
back. First five. Also, when they shall be afraid
of that, which is high and fears shall be in the way and the almond
tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire
shall fail because man goeth to his long home. And the mourners
go about the streets, or ever the silver cord be loosed, or
the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the
fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Now look at verse
seven. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was. He's
talking about us, man. The dust of this flesh shall
return to the earth as it was, From dust we were made and to
dust we're gonna return. And the spirit shall return unto
God who gave it. Moses said, let's be wise and
consider that this is our latter end. This dust is gonna return
back to the dust and our souls are gonna go back to the God
who gave them. And every man and woman is gonna
have to give an account of his or her matters as a tale that
is told. Our lives that we live on this
earth is as a tale that's told, written down. And our souls are
gonna have to go stand before God and tell the tale of our
lives, the tale that is told. The tale of all our sin that
we produced throughout this human life. That tale is gonna be told
to the holy God who's gonna judge it. Look with me back at Psalm
90. Verse 10 says, the days of our
years are three score years in 10. 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. Who knoweth the power
of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so
is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Apply our hearts
means cause us to come. That's what it means. Cause our
hearts to come. He's saying, oh, how wise we
would be if we would all come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
who is our wisdom, Christ who is our life. May God Almighty
teach us to number our days here in this human life, that we may
apply our hearts to our spiritual life, our eternal life, that
life is Christ, our Savior. Teach us to come to Christ. Lord,
draw us and we will come to Christ. Now let's listen here to these
requests. He ends this psalm by making
some final requests here, and this is the prayer in the hope
of a child of God. This is a prayer and a hope that
you can leave human life with. You can leave this world with
this right here. All right, starting in verse
12, he said, teach us to number our days that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom. Lord, you teach us. Would you teach us? You're gonna have to do this.
If you don't do this, it's not gonna be done. This is a request. Teach us to number our days that
we might see Christ to be the only thing needful. Please teach
us that. Verse 13, he said, return, O
Lord, how long? And let it repent thee concerning
thy servants. Return to us. Teach us, return
to us, our coming to the Lord. Teach us to come to Christ. Our
coming to Christ is really Him coming to us. Return to us. Draw us. And then he said, repent yourself. Concerning us. Verse 13 return. Oh Lord, how long and let it
repent the concerning thy servants. You know, I've told you before
that there are, there are many different forms of the word repent
in the scripture. The most common one is change
your mind. It's not what he's saying. He's
not saying change your mind. Here we are sinners. And you
must punish sin. Would you change your mind on
punishing our sin? He's not saying that at all. Our Lord doesn't
change his mind about anything. This word repent means to sigh,
to breathe heavily, to console one's self, to appease one's
self. He's praying, Lord, would you
appease yourself concerning us? Would you do something for yourself
concerning us that will bring appeasement to you and will console
you in all of your holiness concerning our sin? Verse 14, he said, oh,
satisfy us early with thy mercy. Where is mercy found? In the
blood. Lord, cover us with the blood
of your mercy. Don't give us what we deserve
because of our sin. Give us mercy. Console your holy
self through the act of showing your own mercy. Lord, would you
please do what you delight to do, please? Come to us, draw
us, teach us, and show mercy to us. Verse 14 goes on to say
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Verse 15 says, make us glad according
to the days wherein thou has afflicted us and the years wherein
we've seen evil. Would you make us glad? Please give grace to us, give
joy to us, and make us glad. Make us happy. I want to be happy. I want to leave this world happy,
and I want to be happy where I'm going. Make us happy. How does he do that? How does
he make his people happy? Here it is, verse 16. He said,
let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their
children. Let thy work appear unto your
servants. Show us your work. This is a prayer of hope. This
really is a prayer of hope. Show us your work and your glory,
the glory of what you did for us. Do we know what he did for us?
Really? Do we know what he did for his people? God's people
were going to have to go back. Their souls were going to have
to go back and stand before their holy judge with the record. of their human life, the tale
that is told. Every person here has a tale
that is told. You did this, and then you did
this, and then you did this, and then you did this, and then
you did this, and we're gonna go back, and it's gonna be told,
and then I did this, and then I did this, and then I did this,
and then I did this. So we're gonna have to go back
with all of their sin, stand before the judge, tell the tale
that must be told, and be judged accordingly. All right? So Jesus Christ, this is what
he did, Jesus Christ took our tale that had to be told, the
tale of all of our sin, and he took it to himself. And He gave
us His tale that had to be told. He did this, He did this. I love
how the scripture says He went about doing good, doing good. He did this, He did this. All
parties stood before the judgment throne and were judged accordingly.
The tales were told and we were all judged accordingly. He was
judged in the filthy works of our sin. We were judged in the
beautiful, glorious works of His righteousness. In Christ,
that's how all of God's people are gonna go back to Him. When
our time comes, this dusk is gonna return to the dust, and
our souls are gonna go back to Him, and we're going back in
that tale that is told, the tale of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the cross, that's where He
told our tale, and God judged Him accordingly. And therefore
with the number of our days coming to an end, we're going to fly
away. We're going with his record, the record of the life of Christ.
That that is the record. Every child of God gets to go
with the record of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as
Christ was worthy to be received of the father, so will we be
because that was the. The judgment toward him, that'll
be the judgment toward us. Verse 17, he said, let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon us. And established thou the work
of our hands. upon us, yea, the work of our
hands, establish thou it." Any work that will be established
as a good work of ours, he said, Lord, you're going to have to
establish it. If it's going to be counted to us and say, well
done, thou good and faithful servant, good job, good work,
you're going to have to establish it. You're going to have to establish
that work in us. May your work be established
on us. If it is, if it is, it does not
matter what state we leave this human
life in. If his work is established on
us, it does not matter what state we leave this human life in.
We will leave happy. We will leave content and we'll
leave with Christ. We'll leave with everything.
Lord, teach us this. Teach us that Christ is all. Let us leave this world with
that knowledge and that understanding. That's the one thing needful. One thing needful. All right,
let's all stand together.