Psalm 90, this psalm is considered
to be the oldest psalm, the first psalm ever written. It was written by Moses. It's
what it says on the heading just under the title. It says a prayer
of Moses, the man of God. Job is thought to be the first
book in the Bible, the oldest book written in the Bible. And
Psalm 90 is thought to be the first Psalm. And I love knowing
that because it proves to me that what we needed in the beginning
is the same thing we need in the end. What sinners need, the first
word that sinners need is also the last word sinners need. The need of sinners has not changed
and it never will. In verse one, Moses said, Lord,
that's the first word he said, Lord, this is a sinner's prayer
to God. He's crying this out to God. As we get into this, I believe
you're going to see that that is still our cry. What he says right here, this
is still our cry. This is still our same prayer. His prayer is our prayer. We have the same needs and we
still cry the same cries. Thank God we still have the same
God. Same need, same cry, same God. He changes not. He changes not. He is still just
as much there for a sinner right now as he ever was. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. That's great news. That is great
news. Now, what specifically led me
to this Psalm was a request that Moses made in verse 12. He said,
so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts
unto wisdom. Teach us to number our days. Teach us to number our days. Does it strike you that what
is considered to be the first psalm ever written, this psalm
is telling men and women to number their days, what's considered
to be the very first one, right out of the chute, telling men
and women to number their days. It's not the last psalm, it's
not, now these are the final words of the psalms, the first
one. Let's number our days, let's
number our days. The book of Job is the same way.
What's considered to be the first book written stresses our days
are numbered. Our days are numbered. Look with
me at Job chapter seven. Job chapter 7 verse 1 it says, Is there not an appointed time
to man upon the earth? Is there not an appointed time
to man upon earth? Hebrews 9 27 says it is appointed
unto men once to die. It's appointed unto men wants
to die. If a man dies, it was appointed
unto that man to die. The way, the circumstances, the
time, the day, the hour, the minute, the second appointed. Look with me at Job 14. Speaking of man, verse five,
It says, seeing his days are determined. The number of his
months are with thee. Thou has appointed his bounds
that he cannot pass. He cannot pass a man's exact
number of days that he will live on this earth are numbered. They're all numbered. Where,
where are they numbered? Who holds the number? Job said,
they're numbered with thee. All of them. They're numbered
with thee. Every man has God appointed bounds on both sides. And not one time has a man ever
passed outside of those bounds. Sometimes people think. So many
people think, if I'll go to the gym, and if I'll have a surgery
for every replacement part I can get, I can extend this thing
out a little bit. If you'll start eating fiber,
it'll extend your life by, that's not a possibility. That's not
a possibility. Sometimes believers get older,
they get worn out, and they think, what can I do to speed up the
process? How can I just hurry up and go be with God? That's
not a possibility. Forwards or backwards, side or
side, a man's bounds are set. The bounds are set. Verse five
says, Man's days are determined, the number of his months are
with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds
that he cannot pass. He cannot pass. Hold your place
here in Job and turn with me to Psalm 39. Psalm 39 verse four, Lord, make
me to know mine end and the measure of my days. What it is that I
may know how frail I am. Make me to know that sometimes
the Lord does things. to show us and to prove to us
how frail we are. Sometimes He does things just
to prove to us how frail we are, how at His mercy we really are
for everything, how in need of Him we really are for everything. Our physical well-being, our
mental well-being, our emotional well-being, And if all of that,
how much more our salvation, the salvation of our souls, our
spiritual well-being. We are so at His mercy. We are so at His mercy. We are in His hand totally for
all things, and we are in great need. That's what we are. We're
at His mercy, in His hand, and in great need. Without his work
and without his blood, without his mercy and his grace, without
his substitution and his death, without his resurrection and
his life, without him, outside of him, We're nothing. We're nothing. We are helpless. We're hopeless. We're frail. We are frail. We're frail. Without Christ, who is our Savior
and our strength, we're just weak, helpless, frail sinners. That's all we are. Verse four right here says, Lord,
make me to know mine end. and the measure of my days, what
it is that I may know how frail I am." The margin in the center
of the page says, what time I have here. Make me to know mine end,
the measure of my days, what it is that I may know what time
I have here. Verse five says, behold, thou
hast made my days as a hand breath. And mine age is nothing before
thee. Verily, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity." Outside of Christ, every man
at his best state is absolute emptiness. Absolute emptiness. Moses, that's where we started. Job, David. All of these men, all of them
are saying, Lord, remind me of this. That's what they're all
saying. That's their cry. This is the
prayer. Lord, remind me of this. It's painful, but it's mercy. It's painful, but it's grace.
It's painful, but it's kindness. It's love. Lord, remind me of
how frail I am. Remind me that I'm emptiness.
Remind me that I'm nothing. Keep reminding me of this. Keep
pointing me to Christ. Keep causing me to realize He's
all I have. Keep showing me my need of Him.
Keep showing me my need of Him. You know, when hard times come,
we see our need of Him. That's what happens. When hard
times come, when they don't come, so sad to say, but He's the last
thing on our minds. But when hard times come, we
see our need of Him. And all of these men are saying,
Lord, keep reminding me of my need of Him. Please, my days
are so short. This life is so quick. Cause me to look to Him. Now,
I know you're holding your place in Job, but go to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, James said in James
4, 13 and 14, he said, he was telling us, don't say you're
going to go do this today or do that tomorrow. Don't say,
well, I'm going to go do this today, or I'm going to go do
that tomorrow. He said, you don't know what will be on the morrow.
He said, for what is your life? He said, it's a vapor. It's a
vapor. There's no substance to it. There's
no stability to it. Don't expect any stability in
the flesh. None. It's a vapor. He said, it appears for a little
time and then it vanishes away. David said right here in Psalm
103 verse 15, he said, as for man, his days are as grass. as a flower of the field, so
he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it,
and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more."
Man is nothing. He sprouts up. He thinks he's
pretty for just a little moment in time, and then the wind just
blows it away. It's gone. It's nothing. It's
a vapor. There's nothing to it. David said in verse 17, the mercy
of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. Man is so fickle,
so short. His time here is so empty, it's
so nothing. But He said, the mercy of the
Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him. And
His righteousness is unto children's children. It just keeps going
and going and going and going. He said, I showed it to your
fathers. I showed it to you. I'll show it to your children.
His mercy is everlasting. There is so much substance to
it. So much stability in it. Everlasting. Now go back to Job 14. In verse 1, he said this is just
how it is for man. Job 14 verse 1, he said, Man
that is born of a woman is a few days and full of trouble. That's just how it is. Nobody
in the flesh wants that. Man by nature wishes that was
not so, but he said, that's just how it is. Man that is born of
a woman is a few days and full of trouble. But he said down
in verse 14, if you look at Job 14, verse 14, he said, if a man
die, shall he live again Is there a hope for man? Is there truly, I mean truly,
really, a life to come that's eternal? Is there really a life
to come that's eternal? With no ending of days, full
of substance, full of value, full of worth, Is there really
an eternal life with Christ? Everything that we're putting
all of our stock in is gone, gone. Everything man is doing
here is gone. It's a vapor, it's gone. Job
said, is there truly substance with Christ? Is there truly eternal
life with Christ? Is there truly a salvation through
Him? This is what the Spirit of God
said to Job's heart. Yes, there is. Yes, there is. There is forgiveness with Him.
There is redemption with Him. There is a perfection. There
is a righteousness. There is a holiness, all of his
mortals, all of these mortals that he chose to himself that
are just so empty, whose life is nothing but a vapor. All of
his mortals that are washed in his blood and redeemed from the
sin. All of them are going to put
on immortality. All of them. Every corrupt soul that the Father
gave to Christ, God is going to allow that soul to put on
His incorruption, His absolute incorruption. The Spirit said
to Job's heart, because Christ made Himself to be like you,
He made you to be like Him. A change is coming, Job. So empty. This life is so empty. So fickle. So frail. So worrisome. You can't count on anything.
He said a change is coming. A change is coming. Get ready,
a change is coming. As soon as we finish our last
numbered days, man's days are numbered. Man's days are numbered
and he's counting them down. And as soon as we finish our
last numbered day on this earth, a change is coming. Paul told
the Philippians, he is going to change our vile body that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Just wait,
keep counting your days, Job. Keep counting your days. How
do we know the Spirit bore witness of that to Job's heart? It's
because he went on to say in verse 14, all the days of my
appointed time will I wait till my change come. He said, is there
really life after this? If a man die, is he really going
to live? Is there really some substance
coming? Job said, this is what I'm gonna
do. All the days of my appointed time, I'm gonna wait until my
change comes. I'll just wait and count my days. I'll just quietly wait and hope
in the Lord and number my days. I'll X them off until my change
comes. Look with me at Job 19. Job 19 verse 25, he said, For
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, Yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another,
though my reins be consumed within me." And I love what the margin
says right there. It says, my reins within me are
consumed with earnest desire for that day. I'm going to see
Him for myself. Mine eyes shall behold Him and
not another. My reins within me are consumed
with earnest desire for that day." He said, I'm counting my
days. I'm counting my days. I'm counting
my days. I'm counting my days. Lord, teach
me to number my days. Teach me to number my days, both
in fear and in hope, both in sorrow and in excitement. Is it okay to get excited about
being with Him? I'm numbering my days. I'm numbering
my days. I have a set number of days.
Every day that goes by, there's one more. Look up. Hope thou in God. Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? There's one more day gone, teach
me to number my days, teach me to number my days. Why should
we number our days ultimately? Go back to our text, Psalm 90. Psalm 90, the end of verse 12
says, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. that we may apply
our hearts unto wisdom." What is wisdom? Ultimately, what is
wisdom? Wisdom is Christ. Wisdom is Christ. He is made
unto us wisdom. He is our wisdom. Applying our hearts to Him is
wise. I believe that's a big statement. I don't want to be foolish. You
ever say that? I don't want to be foolish. Applying
our hearts to Him is wise. Applying our hearts to anything
else is unwise. He is all and in all. He is before all things. By Him all things consist. He's the doer of all things. He is the comforter in everything
that He does. He's our life. He's our life. When you get down to it, He's
our life. He's our hope. He's our prize. He's the mark. He's our salvation. He is our
security. Moses, this same man, same man
who wrote Psalm 90, he said in Deuteronomy 32, oh, that they
were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider
their latter end. Do you know that our latter end
is not a time? Our latter end is not a place, Our latter end is a person. Our latter end is a person. Moses is saying, Lord, teach
us to apply everything that we are and everything that we have
to you. Teach me to apply my heart to
you. Teach me to apply my mind to
you. Teach me to apply everything
that I am to you. Teach me to apply myself to you.
Teach me to run to you. Teach me to think on you. That's
the wisest way that a sinner could spend the number of his
days. ascribing it all to Him. All of it to Him. Verse 1 says,
right here in verse 1, it says, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. Can't you see Moses out there
in the wilderness with all of the children of Israel? After
40 years, okay, Moses brought them out of Egypt and they went
into the wilderness and after 40 years, can't you see Moses
thinking, are we ever going to find a home? They'd be there
for a moment and then they'd have to leave. And they'd be
there for a moment and they'd have to leave. Are we ever going
to find a home? And then wisdom comes to him
and this is what he realizes, verse 1, Thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. This is what it is to apply the
heart to Him. Wait a minute. You're our dwelling
place. Verse 2, before the mountains
were ever brought forth, He went up on that mountain and God gave
Him the law. Went up on that mountain, he
saw God face to face. This is what wisdom revealed
to him. Before the mountains were brought forth, wherever
thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting
to everlasting thou art God. He saw, wait a minute, God is
holy. And then it dawned on him from
everlasting, God was holy. From everlasting to everlasting,
God is a consuming fire. Verse 3, He said, Thou turnest
man to destruction. 430 years, the children of Israel
were in that destructive bondage to Egypt. And through wisdom,
through God-given, God-applied wisdom, this is what Moses realized.
You put them there. You put them there. That's what
he's realizing. Verse 3, Thou turnest men to
destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men. You're the
one who put them in that bondage. You're the one who pulled them
out. Verse 4, For a thousand years in thy sight are but as
yesterday, when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou
carryest them away as with a flood. A thousand years is just carried
away like nothing. 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. We are consumed by thine anger,
and by thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities
before thee, our secret sins, in the light of thy countenance."
This is what the Lord is revealing to Moses. You're God. You're God. You see everything. You do everything. You see straight
into my soul. All of my sin is before you.
All of these secret sins, you see the sins I don't even see.
Verse nine, he said, 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 threescore
years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore
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 to you. Cause us to look to you. Cause us to see our hope to be
in you. Cause us to see our salvation
to be in you. Cause us to see our all to be
in you. Verse 13 says, ìReturn, O Lord,
how long, and let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants.î Bring
that change to us quickly that Job was so earnestly waiting
for. Verse 14, ìOh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy, that we
may rejoice and be glad all our days. Send salvation to us early. Save us early. reveal your mercy
to us early, cause us to bear the yoke in our youth, that these
days that we have on the earth may be spent rejoicing in you,
rejoicing in your salvation, rejoicing in your blood. Verse
15 says, make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast
afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil. What'll make
a man glad through affliction? knowing that Christ suffered
his affliction for him. That's what will make a man glad,
through affliction, all affliction, when he says, you know, I deserve
everything that's coming to me. The moment wisdom cries, Christ
bore all that for you. That'll make a man glad, it'll
make him rejoice. Verse 16 says, let thy work appear
unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. And what that means is show us
your good. He said, I'll make all my goodness pass before you. I'll proclaim the name of the
Lord before you. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. I'll be merciful to whom I'll be merciful. Show
us your good. Lord, when we can't see it, remind
us of your wisdom. Remind us of your purpose. Let
us rejoice in everything you do all of our days, even if our
days are affliction. Verse 17 says, And let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of
our hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands establish
thou it. What is the work of our hands?
Some people asked the Lord in John 6, they said, What shall
we do that we might work the works of God? The Lord said, this is the work
of God that you believe on Him whom He had sent. Believe on
Him, believe on Christ, trust Him to be your all. Rest in Him. Moses said, Lord, establish that
work upon us. If you establish it, it'll be
done. If you do that, it'll be done. Just let us see Your beauty
in all of this. Let the beauty of the Lord our
God be upon us. David said, One thing have I
desired of the Lord that will I seek after, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold
the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. Let me
leave you with this thought. The Scripture says over and over
again, the day of the Lord is coming. That's what it says over
and over again, the day of the Lord coming. The day is coming,
the day is coming. For the world, that's horrible.
But for God's people, that's glory. One great day with no
night. One day. As soon as we finish
counting down all of these days, there will be no more days to
count. None. For the rest of eternity, there
will only be the great day of the Lord. The one great day,
the eternal day of Christ. No more generations. All these
generations. Lord, teach us to number our
days. Generation after generation. In that day, there's no more
generations. It is only the generation of Jesus Christ. That's it. Now I want to read this poem
to you. I believe this is fitting for the moment. Written by William Cooper. It
says, God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, He treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense. but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and
he will make it plain. So Lord, teach us to number our
days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. All right, let's
all stand together.