Psalm 90. This is the oldest of the 150
psalms. It's the only one that was written
by Moses. And he wrote this 500 years before
any other psalm was written. As we said in the reading in
the first 11 verses, you have Moses' contemplation, his meditation. He considers God, that's the
place to start. Don't start with man. Start with
man and you're bound to go wrong. He considers God. And then in light of who God
is, and that's a thought, isn't it? That's beyond us. But as much as we're able to
think about the greatness of God, The more we consider that,
the more we see the littleness, the insignificance of man. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? And then following the first
11 verses, the remainder of the psalm is a prayer. In light of
what's been said, in light of what Moses considered, he prays,
Lord, help us, make us to remember our days. how short they are. The heading of the psalm says,
a prayer of Moses, the man of God. That heading is like the
entrance into the house. And even before we enter into
the psalm, there's, I think, instruction by the heading there,
don't you? A prayer of Moses, the man of
God. A man of God and prayer go hand
in hand. Communion with God, what a privilege,
what a duty. But it can only begin with Him,
that is, God Himself. Real prayer, real prayer. I don't mean the formality for
which people contend, the formality in schools, for example, restore
prayer in schools, you can't stop true prayer. Laws can't
stop true prayer. Paul and Silas are in prison.
They're chained between guards, and yet they pray to God. True
prayer, not the formality, not just going through the motions,
but true prayer, communion with God, starts in heaven. and it can't be stopped. Prayer
is the breathing of the renewed soul. That man that's been born
again, prayer is his breathing back to God, who breathed into
his soul the breath of life. That's true prayer. Back to God who first gave us
life. Remember, What the Lord said
to Ananias in Acts chapter 9, when he was instructed to go
to Saul of Tarsus, I've heard of this man. I know why he came
here. What he's done to your people
in Jerusalem and he's came here for the same intent. You remember
what God said to Ananias? Ananias, go to him. Go to him. Behold, he prayeth. Hmm? Behold, he prayeth. There's evidence that I've conquered
him by my mighty grace. He's praying. You mean Saul of
Tarsus never prayed before? No, he did not. No, he did not. Not like he was doing now. Oh,
before he would pray like that Pharisee in the temple, I thank
you, I'm not like other men. I touch not, and I taste not,
and I wear not, and I go not. Oh, but now he's praying at the
footstool of a sovereign God, thanking Him for His mercy and
His grace. Lord, what will you have me to
do? Ananias, behold, he prayeth.
And I'll say this. I don't know where I heard this
expression, where I read it, rather. It doesn't matter. But someone said, a prayerless
soul is a Christless soul. Think about that. A prayerless
soul is a Christless soul. And I agree with that entirely. Oh, this is the evidence of grace
experienced. Moses, the man of God. What an obituary. Hm? Moses, the man of God. Does anything else matter in
comparison to that? Moses lived 120 years. I think
it's safe to say that's longer than any of us will. But then
he died. Then he died. He went the way
of all flesh, as he described himself in this psalm, like a
blade of grass. In the morning, it grows up.
In the evening, it's cut down, and it's gone. We fly away. Oh,
but what an obituary left behind. Moses, the man of God. You can pick up the newspaper
this afternoon and turn to that column where folks the previous
week have gone out, have died, and you'll read many things.
He was a third degree mason. He did this or he did that. He was well-liked. He'll be missed. He was well-remembered. He was
a respected member of society. He belonged to the big Baptist
church. Hadn't been there for 30 years,
but he belonged to it. Did he know God? Did he know
God, Lonnie? What else matters? What else
matters if he didn't know God? Oh, Moses, at the very entrance
of the psalm, we have these sweet words, a prayer of Moses, the
man of God. He knew God, Lord. When the time
comes for each of us to leave this world, and if we're aware
of it, As we're lying at home or in the hospital of God is
pleased to make us aware of, we're leaving this world. What
a comfort it will be to say, I know whom I have believed. It doesn't make any difference
what else I know or thought I knew. My comfort, my delight, my joy
will be right here. I'm going to be with Him forever. He'll keep me. He'll keep me
till the river rolls its waters at my feet and He'll bear me
safely over where my Savior I shall meet. David said, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I'm not afraid. Why, David? Because He's with
me. He's with me as He always has
been. Moses' name means drawn out. That's what the word Moses means. And you know where that came
from. When he was three months old, because of the decree of
Pharaoh that all male infants should be destroyed, his mother
hid him in the water, in the river. As Miriam, his sister,
stood back and watched, hiding herself. And Pharaoh's daughter,
oh, the providence of God. Isn't it amazing? Pharaoh's daughter
comes down to the river just at that moment. Wasn't Moses
lucky? Oh, no. See the hand of our God
arranging everything. Everything. And she sees that
Hebrew child. and tells her servants, the maidens,
fetch him, bring him to me. And that's where the name Moses
comes from. She calls him that because he
was drawn out of the water. But more than that, more than
that, he had been drawn out by God's marvelous grace. Our Lord said, no man can come
to me unless the Father who has sent me draw him. And Moses was
a chosen vessel of God, drawn. In Hebrews chapter 11, in what
we call the roll call of the heroes of faith, we read this
about Moses, verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
He was 40 years old at the time. have been raised in Pharaoh's
house that long, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God drawn out than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season. Choosing rather to suffer with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures, the riches of
Pharaoh's house for just a little while. esteeming the reproach
of Christ, greater riches. Greater riches, rich in grace. Oh, take the world. But give
me Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as
seeing him who is invisible." As we said, Moses lived 120 years,
but he died. But he died. Notice again what he says in
verse 1 of Psalm 90. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. Dwelling place. That is home. Home. Oh, what sweet memories
usually, hopefully, that word brings up for us. Home. Many years after this, many hundreds
of years, centuries after this, after Moses went home to be with
his God, his dwelling place forever, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we
see him appearing on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord
Jesus Christ. because He's not the God of the
dead, but the God of the living. Absent from the body, but present
with the Lord. Our Master said to His disciples
that night, because I live, that night that they were troubled
and confused, because He said, I'm going away, and you can't
follow me now. He said, because I live, ye shall
live also. Our dwelling place. We have a
home in Thee, in Christ. To God's people, He's our refuge. He's that one to whom we flee,
in whom we abide. He shelters us, He comforts us,
He protects us, and He preserves us, just like He did Moses. He'll do the same, He has done
it, and He'll continue to do it. Can we not sing, brothers
and sisters? Does not our experience prove
that it's so? It's grace that's brought me
safe thus far, right up to this very moment. His grace been sufficient. It's not dependent upon my faithfulness,
but His. His grace has brought me safe
thus far and His grace, His grace will never change. His grace
is going to lead me home to live with Him forever. No place like home is there. Again, that same night in John
14, our Lord said to his disciples, my Father and I will come in
and abide with you. One of them had asked, Lord,
how will you manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Oh,
if a man loves me, my Father and I will come in to him and
abide. The word is home. We'll be a
home to him. Quite a few years ago, I was
no longer living in West Virginia, but I was visiting. And I was
by myself one afternoon, and I drove up to Holla. You've heard
me mention the Holla. I thought, I wonder if there's
anything left of the old home place. I went so far, and I had
to park the car. You couldn't drive down anymore,
so I walked down there. And you know what? There was
nothing left. Nothing left. I mean, I looked
around and it all growed up. I couldn't even find the foundation
where the house was. There wasn't a trace. Wasn't
a trace. Oh, but thank God. We have a
home. A house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. The theme of this psalm is God's
eternality compared to man's brevity. but with eternity after
this life in front of us. No wonder our Lord said, what
shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose
his own soul? It's appointed unto men once
to die, every one of us, every man on earth. And after that,
what? It's appointed unto men once
to die and then what? Purgatory? No, no. Soul sleep? No. Annihilation? No. It's appointed unto me and
wants to die, and after that, the judgment. After that, I'll
stand before God Almighty. It's no wonder. No wonder. Moses said, Lord, teach us to
number our days that we may apply our hearts to the real, true
wisdom. The title of my message is here
today. and then gone forever. But where? But where? This world is not
all, is it? Even God's people, I'm afraid
sometimes we live like it is. But this world is not all. First
consider, rather with Moses, first consider God. God. The word Psalm means praises. The Psalms are songs, praises
to God. True worship is derived from
a word that means prostrate. Prostrate. Oh, that's a good
picture of true worship, isn't it? That's as it should be. Bowing down, falling down, prostrating
myself before the throne of the Holy God, and if He will allow
me If He will allow me, Joe, to worship Him. This is the God
that Moses speaks of. This is the God that they sang
about. God who is everlasting from everlasting. God Almighty and blessed forever. That God. Oh, when we have an
awareness of that God, not this imposter, Not where the majority
people are sitting this morning in churches and hearing about
a God who can't. They won't produce worship. They
won't bow down anybody. He's not worth bowing down to.
Oh, but the God of glory, the God of heaven, once we have a
realization of who He is, it makes us realize who we are and
we'll prostrate ourselves. We'll get down in the dust. That's
where we belong and worship Him. He who alone is everlastingly
God. Look at verse 2. Before the mountains
were brought forth, wherever thou hast formed the earth and
the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Think of that one attribute alone,
and it's enough to boggle this little peewee brain of mine.
Just think of His everlastingness, His eternality. That alone isn't
too much for me. Without beginning, without end,
before the mountains, God. Before the heavens, God. Before the earth, God. Before anything was, that is,
There was God. The old hymn, How Great Thou
Art, contains a line that says, when I look down from lofty mountain
grandeur, before that lofty mountain was there, God. That great mountain. that we consider to be a very
emblem of strength and longevity before it was ever there, God. Before anything, God. Think about that. Before. Take the wings of faith that
God enables you and fly back as far as you can fly. when the
earth was yet without form and void and before that, there was
God. Fly back as far as you can fly
in your mind and heart and imagine before all that, there was God. God dwelling alone in absolute
perfect complacency. God. My soul. What a thought. in the beginning. Oh, but before that, before that,
the beginning doesn't refer to god. Oh, no. In the beginning, god was before
that. The beginning springs from him
as we know it. But he was before all things.
Roger, when he was about five or six years old, after hearing
me preach once, we were driving and that's been 35 years ago
or about 30 years ago. He's 35 years old now and my
answer to him now is the same as it was then. I do not know. I know that in the beginning,
God, he had no beginning and he had no end. It's not about
you. Brother Lowe and I talked about
this the other evening. He said, we live in a it's about
me generation. It's all about me. No, it's not. You know what me is? A worm. It's just a worm. Brother Henry
said one worm bragging on another worm. No, it's about It's about
God. Of Him and through Him and back
to Him are all things. That's the God with whom we have
to do. That's the God who holds us in
the palm of His hand. That's the God who will give
you your very next breath. It's all up to Him. And that's
the God that's numbered your days and there's nothing you
can do about it. Work out all you want. Exercise
all you want. Do whatever you want to do. Take
all the vitamins you want to take. When God calls you home,
you're gone. You're gone. When God calls you
before Him, I should say, because if you don't know Him, it won't
be home. Heaven will not be your home. Look at Psalm 102. And as we
said earlier, the Psalms are just full of this. The theme
of the Psalms is not man. It's not about him. But it's
about God, the 102nd Psalm. We read these words just as an
example. Verse 25. of old, Psalm 102,
verse 25, of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish,
but thou shalt endure. Yea, all them shall wax old like
a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall
be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall have
no end. No end. This is what Moses says
in verse 2 of Psalm 90. From everlasting to everlasting
thou art God. Remember when Moses encountered
God at the burning bush? He's 80 years old. He's keeping
the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. And he sees a burning
bush. And it's not consumed. And he
turns aside. He's about to encounter the true
and living God. And God says, Moses, take off
your shoes before you approach me. Bow down before you approach
me. I'm God. I'm sending you down
to deliver my people. Who will I say sent me? Moses
asks. What's your name? And he says,
tell them that I am I am everlastingly God. And in verse 2 when we read from
everlasting to everlasting thou art God, it means not only that
God has been from eternity, but He's always been God from eternity. What I mean by that, God always,
but always God. All powerful, always. All-knowing, always. All-wise,
always. All-ruling, always. In short, God over all, all the
time. Consider otherwise, John. I mean,
is there ever been a time? Ten seconds. Less. that there was some circumstance
that God wasn't in control of? Something that arose that caught
him off guard? Ever been a time that he wasn't
all-wise and all-powerful and all-sovereign? Ruling and overruling
everything for his own glory? If there's ever been a time,
ever been a split second that that was so, then he's not God. Oh, but he's God over all. From
everlasting to everlasting, he's God. Considering that, How comforting
are these words of our Redeemer to His people. Your heavenly
Father knoweth what you have need of. Your heavenly Father
knoweth. He that is our God, the same
in power, the same in purpose, accomplishing His will, absolutely
certain. Think of that child of God. He's
your Father. He's my father, Lester. My father
knoweth. My father knoweth. Then why do
I bite my nails? Why do I walk the floors? Why
do I toss and turn? My father knoweth. I ascend to my Father and your
Father, and my God and your God. He raised me from the depths
of sin, the gates of gaping hell, and fixed my standing more secure
than was before I fell. Now look at man. Look at man
as Moses does in these first First 11 verses, after considering
God, Moses looks at man. What a contrast. What a contrast. A picture of absolute weakness.
His life's a vapor. At his very best state, this
is what the scripture said, at his very best state, he's altogether
vanity. At his very best, he's altogether
vanity. Look how he's described here,
verse 3. Thou turnest man to destruction
and sayest, return ye children of men. God does that. The word destruction here is
derived from the word dust. Remember what he said to Adam?
You were taken from dust, and to dust you'll return. So it
is. with a word simply from Him. Thou sayest, that is God, return,
return. And when God does that, nothing
can stop it. Nothing can save a man's life
when God says, return, return. This is all the time I've allotted
you. It's over. How have you spent
it? Remember, That rich man, that
rich fool, Lord called him. He said, a man's life doesn't
consist in that he possesses. So there was a certain man who
had so much he had to build bigger barns to store it all. And then he laid back on his
bed that night and said, oh my soul, look what I've done. I've got all this stored up.
I don't have need of anything. Now I'm going to eat, drink,
and be merry." And our Lord said, but God. But God spoke and said,
you're a fool. You're a fool. Tonight I require
your soul of you. And then whose will those things
be? In verse 4, Moses says, our life
is like a sleep. When we sleep, we're unaware
of time passing by. So is our life. Brothers and
sisters in Christ, the older we get, the faster it goes by,
doesn't it? Absolutely. Doesn't it, Lonnie?
I bet it doesn't seem like too long ago you were just a young
boy, 15, 16 years old. I bet it just seemed
like a couple of days ago. The night is far spent, the day is
at hand, and eternity is at the door. Verse 5, Thou carriest
them away as with a flood. Our life flows away like a stream
of water, and it carries us with it, flood. Our life is like a
bubble, appears for a little while, and then it's gone. Again,
verse 5 with verse 6. They are like grass which groweth
up. In the morning, it flourisheth and groweth up. In the evening,
it is cut down and withereth. Grass growing in the morning,
a picture of youth, flourishing, flowering, a picture of our prime. And then in the evening, it's
cut down. It's gone. What shall I say,
the prophet asked God? What shall I prophesy? What shall
I tell them? Tell them all flesh is grass
and all the glory of man is as the flower of the field. The
day it is and tomorrow it's gone. It withereth. The grass is cut
down and notice it's all in the space of one day. Our entire life is compassed
in one day. Morning we're born, afternoon
in our youth, evening of our old age, and then we're gone. We're gone. We fly away. Moses says, a tale that is told,
and it's a very short story. It soon comes to a close. Now
look at verse 9. For all our days are passed away
in thy wrath, and we spend our years as a tale that is told. We spend our years. Let me ask
you, brothers and sisters, everyone, how are you spending yours? We
spend our time. How are you spending yours? Paul
wrote to Timothy and said, Timothy, in the latter days, men shall
be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. America spends
millions of dollars, millions to be entertained. We pay people
millions of dollars to entertain us. Rome had one coliseum. America's got hundreds. The most
popular TV programs glorify adultery and homosexuality and every ungodly
thing you can think of. That's what people want to see. How are you spending your time?
I wonder what that rich man thought. I wonder how many times he wished
he'd have spent his time on this earth differently when he left
it up his eyes in hell. We sang it earlier. It was hard
to sing. See our mothers and our fathers
and our children sinking down. Oh God, don't allow it. Don't
allow it. Ask that rich man, what would
you give now? What would you give now for the
world and those riches? What would you give now? If you
could sit and hear one gospel message, what would you give
for your immortal soul? And then last of all, look at
verse 12 again. So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Teach us. Believer, I speak to you and myself. Lord, teach me to live in this
world as though I believe these things. as though I believe these
things. Let me live in this world, as
Paul says, using it but not abusing it. This world is not my home,
Lord. I'm passing through. I'm just
passing through. Live here for God's glory. Life is fleeting. And soon I
must put off this tabernacle, as Peter wrote. And he also asked
the question, what manner of persons are we to be? Turn, if
you will, to Galatians, not Galatians, Galatians. Galatians chapter
3. Paul asked this question, or
rather tells us in consideration of our profession, Galatians
chapter 3 verse 1, if ye then be risen, Since ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
setteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth. For you're dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God." That's where my affection should be.
That's where my heart should be. That's where my loyalty should
be, with Christ. or what days He allows me here. Give me grace, O Lord, to glorify
Your name, because I belong to You. You bought me with a price. I'm not my own. Everything I
am, everything I have belongs to You. Remember in Luke 17,
our Lord's on His way to Jerusalem. And there are ten lepers standing
afar off. and they left up their voices,
plural, all ten of them, seeing him, knowing who he is, but afraid
to approach unto him because the law said they couldn't, begin
to cry together, Have mercy! Have mercy! Have mercy! That's the need. That's the need. That's what's important. Before
I leave this world, I must experience God's mercy or I'm doomed forever. And they all cry, have mercy. And they come to Him and fall
down. What do you want? Lord, have mercy. And he said, go show yourselves
to the priest. And they turned to leave. And as they walked
away, one looked at the other and said, you're clean. You're not leprous anymore. And they look at one another
and say, look! Look! He did it! He had mercy on us! And nine of them just start trotting
down the road. But one, But one, we're told, turned around and
he went back and he prostrated himself before the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he said, thank you. Thank you. And you remember what
the Lord said? There were ten voices asking
for mercy, but only one came back and gave thanks. And he
said, Where are the nine? Where are the nine? Were there not ten cleansed?
Where are the nine? I read that and I'm convicted.
Because I remember, Lord, when forgiveness and mercy was the
most important thing in my life, I didn't care what else happened. God have mercy on this sinner.
God be gracious to me. If you'll have mercy on me, I'll
live for you and I'll honor you. I'll do anything and go anywhere. Whatever you want, please have
mercy. And he said, your sins are all
forgiven. And then I look back since it
happened and I think, well, what group am I in? The nine that
went their way or that one that came back and said, thank you.
Thank you, Lord. Old John Newton wrote these words
concerning that woman in the house of Simon that our Lord
said, thy sins are forgiven thee. Newton. This is entitled Two
Debtors, and he wrote, when the load of sin is felt and much
forgiveness known, then the heart, of course, will melt, though
hard before a stone. Blame not then her love and tears,
greatly she in debt has been, but I have removed her fears
and pardoned all her sin. When I read this woman's case,
her love and humble zeal, I confess with shame of face, my heart
is made of steel. much has been forgiven me. Jesus
paid my heavy score. What a creature must I be that
I can love him no more. Thy sins are forgiven thee. Let me wrap this up. Unbeliever, you hear that don't
know Christ. Are you going to Broadway with that broad way that you're following
with the crowd, do you know where that will end? Remember in Revelation
6, it says, the heavens were departed
as a scroll. God's finished with it. And the rich men and the great
men and the mighty men hid themselves in the mountains, and pray, fall
on us, and hide us from the face of him that sets upon the throne,
because the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall
be able to stand?" That crowd, those American idols that folks
look up to, look at them now. How important is fame to them
now? How important are their riches
now? What matters to them now? I read an article just the other
night by Oliver Wendell Holmes, one of the chief justices, very
well-known man. He wrote a letter to a friend
and he said this, I live in cringing fear of death. Underneath this
light exterior of my life, which is nothing more than a role of
an actor, lies the stark reality that I am growing old, and I
do so in fear and trembling. Take away all the glitter. Take away all these outward things. And I stand naked before God. No wonder Moses prayed, Lord,
show us Thy work. Show us Thy work. Look again
at verse 16 and 17 of Psalm 90. Let Thy work appear unto Thy
servants, and Thy glory unto their children, and let the beauty
of our God be upon us. Let the beauty of our God be upon us. dress me
in the perfect righteousness of Christ, and I'll be accepted
by the everlasting God for all eternity. Found in him. Ezekiel said, or in Ezekiel rather
16, speaking of God's people, a picture of the redeemed, it
says, for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness,
which I put up on thee, saith the Lord. with his holy garments
on, as holy as God's own Son. Thank God for his amazing grace. Lord bless you.