My mom, when I was growing up,
my dad would say to Sherry, who are you, Sherry? And she'd say,
prize possession. And he would say, who are you,
Todd? I'd say, obligation. I thought it was a good thing.
I didn't know, but my mom never talked to me that way. Psalm
90. Notice the title of this psalm
is a prayer of Moses, the man of God. And this is the only
psalm attributed to Moses, and most likely it's the oldest of
the psalms. Moses wrote this hundreds of
years before David was writing the psalms. Lord. Thou has been our dwelling
place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought
forth or ever thou has formed the earth and the world. Even
from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God. Thou turnest man
to destruction or dust and say it's return you children of men. For a thousand years are in thy
sight, are but as yesterday, when it is past, then as a watch
in the night. Thou carriest 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's cut down
and withereth. For 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.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years
as a tale that's told. The days of our years are threescore
and 10, and if by reason of strength, they'd be fourscore years. Yet
is their strength labor and sorrow, for it's 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. Return, O Lord, how long? Let it repent thee concerning
thy servants. O, 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've seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children 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 established
thou it. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for who
you are. How we thank you that from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. Beside thee is none else. Lord,
how we thank you for your gospel that makes us perfect in your
sight. That we can actually come boldly
into the holy of holies through the blood of your son. How we thank you for all your
glorious attributes, how we thank you for your mercy. Lord, we're
so, we're so grateful. Lord, we ask that the gospel
might be preached, that you would give us hearing ears. We ask
that you would forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake. We
ask that you would teach us to number our days, that we may
apply our hearts toward wisdom. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together, and Lord, we would remember those that
you're bringing through trials of whatever kind. We pray for
your blessing upon them. Accept our thanksgiving, in Christ's
name we pray, amen. Now I love the title of this
song, Moses, a man of God. Now, here's what is special about
that title. If you're a believer and you're
a man, you're a man of God. Just as much as Moses was. Moses's righteousness was Christ,
so is yours. If you're a woman and you're
a believer, you're a woman of God. This is every believer's
title and what a humbling thing that is. Men and women of God. The Lord said they are not of
the world even as I am not of the world. Speaking of every
believer, Moses. a man of God, every believer,
a man and a woman of God, and a man. Moses was a man with all
the limitations that you have and all the sinfulness that you
and I have. Look what he said about himself
in verse seven. Remember, he's the author. Verse eight, he's the author
of this, and he says, Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
our secret sins, in the light of thy countenance. That's Moses'
confession of himself, and every one of us knows what this means
when he speaks of himself in that light. Now, verse one, Lord,
Thou has been our dwelling place in all generations. That means in eternity past, eternity present,
and right now. I think Greg Elmquist made my
favorite all time statement with regard to eternity and the believer.
When we get to heaven, we'll find out we've always been there.
Isn't that glorious? Eternity. Thou has been our dwelling
place. That's the place we live in Christ. That's why Paul said, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in him. And I don't wanna be
seen or viewed anywhere else, do you? Simply in the Lord Jesus
Christ. At all times, when God looks
at me, He sees Christ, and that's how he sees me. And that's Moses'
security. Thou has been our dwelling place
in all generations. That means throughout eternity.
We're creatures of time. We can't grasp that. I realize that. All we know is
yesterday and tomorrow and right now. But there's gonna be a time,
according to Revelation, when time is no more. and then we'll
have some understanding of eternity. But this is Moses' hope. You've
been our dwelling place in all generations. Verse two, before
the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou
art God. Now there are two things brought
out by this verse. He's the creator. And he is eternal. He's the creator. And he is eternal. He's the God of creation. He
created the universe. And let me say this. I believe
the Genesis account. Of course I do. I believe the
word of God. Do I understand it all? No, do
I believe at all? Yes. You know, there has been
a debate. Does six days mean six days?
I believe so. Because he speaks of 24 hour
periods, the day and the night, or the first day. Does it, does that mean periods
of time? I don't think so, but if it does,
it does. And I, whatever the Bible means
is what I believe. And people have debated, well,
how old is the earth? Is it 13 billion years old? Is it 4 billion years old? Is
it only 6,000 years old? I don't know. If it's 6,000 years
old, it's 6,000 years old. And the Lord could create the
world with all the fossil fuels when he created it that would
have supposedly taken a billion years to do. The Bible's not
a science book. If science is contrary to the
scripture, it's science falsely so-called, as Paul called it.
But the Bible makes no attempt at being a science book, but
the Bible tells us God created the heavens and the earth exactly
as he said he did it, and he spake the world into existence
from nothing. He's the creator, and he's eternal. Turn with me, hold your finger
there, and turn with me to Romans chapter one. Verse 20, for the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse for their unbelief. Creation
says this clearly. Someone all powerful made this. And nobody made him. He's eternal. And that's what verse two says.
Psalm 90, before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou
had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God, thou turnest men to destruction.
That word destruction actually is dust. dust. From dust thou art, to dust thou
will return. Now that's the heritage of every
one of us. Dust thou art, to dust thou shalt return for, verse
four, a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday. When it's past, And as a watch
in the night. Now, a thousand years ago, it
was the year 1023. You think of all the stuff that's
happened in that thousand year period on this earth. And it
was nothing more in God's sight than a watch in the night. He's eternal. We're creatures
of time. We're here for a little while.
but he is eternal. Peter quotes this when he says,
remember to the Lord, a thousand years are but as a day and a
day is a thousand years. Oh, the glorious God that we
worship. You know, when, when you think
of just his eternity, all you can do is just in your heart,
bow down. He's God beside him is none else. Now, Moses talks about our experience
in time. These days thou carry'st them
away as with a flood. They are asleep. In the morning
they're like grass which grows up. In the morning it flourishes
and grows up. In the evening it's cut down
and withers. You know, every day, for whatever
reason, I read the obituaries. I look to see who's died, I don't
know most of them, but I think here's a life that's lived and
it's gone. Many things happened during that
person's life, and it's gone. And in another generation, nobody
will remember them. It's like they never lived. And
that's true with regard to me and you. I mean, I hope there's
people that feel that we're important in their lives and so on, We
are, but the time is coming when nobody will remember we even
existed. Just, I like what Joe McSherry said, everyone has about
as much effect in life as sticking your thumb in the water and pulling
it out. Gone. Verse seven, but we are consumed
by thine anger, and by thy wrath we are troubled." Now, wherever
there's an awareness of the character of God, you're going to know
something about his hatred of sin and your own sinfulness.
And this is what he's speaking of. When he says, we're consumed
by thine anger and by thy wrath, we're troubled. Moses never experienced
the wrath of God the way the Lord Jesus Christ did in any
way, and neither will you or I. Christ is the only one who
experienced all the fullness of his wrath. But here's what
Moses is saying, and think about this. When Moses left Israel,
he left with a whole lot of adults, people that were over 20 years
old, several hundred thousand. How many of them did he know
personally? By the time he stood up on Pisgah and looked at the
promised land that he wasn't gonna be allowed to go into,
you'll remember he smoked the rock twice, and God said, you
failed to sanctify me before the people. The rock was only
to be smitten once, and Moses smoked it twice. I think that's,
must we bring water out of this rock? He spoke so proudly there,
and the Lord said, you're not going in the promised land because
of that. The people provoked him and made him smoke unadvisedly
with his lips, the psalmist said. But at any rate, everybody he
knew, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, were dead. All those
people he brought out, he saw all these things take place in
the wilderness in those 40 years. He saw so much sinful behavior
and he saw the Lord dealing with it. And he saw every one of these
people are dead, except for Caleb and Joshua. We're consumed by
thine anger and by thy wrath, we're troubled. Now, Moses makes
this confession of sin. He says, thou hast set our iniquities
before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. Now, Moses had what we all have,
iniquities. and secret sins. Sins we don't want anyone knowing
about. You know what Moses said? You set our secret sins in the
light of thy countenance. They're not secret before you.
You see them all. That's a God all-seeing. And this is what
Moses is speaking of. And I, you know, I love the way
Moses speaks here. I love it. I don't know if that's
the right word to use, but he's dealing with what Paul dealt
with in Romans chapter seven, when he said, what I hate, I
do. What I want to do, I don't do. I remember hearing Tim James
preach on Romans chapter seven. Would you buy a used car off
of a fella that said something like that? Are you gonna be honest? I hope so, maybe not. No. Now that's not the way to do
business, you know that. I'm not saying that, but I'm
talking about Moses or Paul talking about his own experience of sin,
and really this is the only honest man. Anyone that doesn't say
what Paul says in Romans chapter 7 is just a liar. That's all
there is to it. This is the experience of the
believer, and this is what Moses is saying. Moses says, for thou
has said our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the
light of thy countenance. Verse nine, for all our days
or passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years as a tale
that is told, as a sigh, as a moan, as a short story, a short story. That's how we spend our days
and our years. Verse 10, the days of our years
Our three scoring 10. My next birthday I'll be 64.
So according to that I have another. I might be dead tomorrow. I know that, but this is just
what the Lord said. 70. 70. That used to seem, you know,
somebody ought to be dead by the time they reach 70. You know,
I'm in good grief. That's a long life. But when
you're 64, it doesn't seem that old, does it? If you're 70, it
doesn't seem that old. But at any rate, the days of
our years are three score and 10. And if by reason of strength
they'd be four score years, if we make it to 80, yet is their
strength labor and sorrow. For it's soon cut off and we
fly away. Those last 10 years, oh, they're
difficult. They're difficult. One difficulty
after another. And that's life. Read Ecclesiastes
chapter 12 when he describes old age. Verse 11, who knoweth the power
of thine anger? I don't, you don't, nor does
anyone else. Who knows? Who knows? Even according to thy fear, so
is thy wrath. So now here's, uh, the, uh, application
of all these thoughts that Moses gives us. So here's, here's what
we want out of thinking about your eternity, the brevity of
our life. Verse 12. So teach us to number
our years. Teach us to number our days.
Our life is made up of days. Not a long time. Teach us to
number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. The brevity of life. And that's what he's talking
about. The brevity. I said recently, it seems like
just yesterday that I was a teenager. The brevity of life. Now, when,
by the grace of God, we're enabled to think about the brevity of
life, we're able to think of this. There's only one thing
that's needful. All the stuff we become so consumed
with just is not important. It does not even count. One thing is needful. Now when I apply my heart to
wisdom, that doesn't mean all of a sudden I become a real wise
man and I can see things, but no, Christ is my wisdom. When
I apply my heart to wisdom, I apply my heart to Christ. And I'm saying,
oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. He's made into
us according to 1 Corinthians 1.30, wisdom. He's my wisdom. Righteousness. sanctification,
and redemption. Oh, teach us to number our days. You know, your priorities are
straightened out when you're numbering your days. The stuff
that seems so important is not important. One thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen that good
part, the Lord said, and it shall not be taken away from her. I
think of Martha Cumbered about with much serving. Getting mad
at her sister Mary, sitting there at the feet of Christ, hearing
his word. Bid my master, bid her help me. I'll tell you, you're in bad
shape when you're trying to tell Christ what to do. You know,
you don't do that, ever, ever. She did. He said, you're careful
and troubled about many things. One thing is needed. Teach us to number our days that
we may apply our hearts. And to wisdom. Return, oh, Lord,
how long? Let it repent thee concerning
thy servants." Now, what I thought about, you know, he says, return,
Lord. He felt like, because of his own sinfulness, the Lord
had left. Now, remember, the psalmist always speaks what he
feels. Whether it's Moses or David,
somebody, they say, doesn't he understand eternal security,
that the Lord never forsakes his people? Yeah, he knew that,
but he's talking about how he felt. And he felt like he didn't have
the Lord's presence. And he said, return. Return,
I think of the king of Nineveh when Jonah said 40 days misplaces
is torched. And what did the king of Nineveh
say? Who can tell if the Lord will
repent? Who can tell? He delights in
mercy. Who can tell? Mercy rejoices
against judgment. Scripture says that. Who can
tell? And that's what Moses is saying in verse 13, return, O
Lord, how long? Let it repent thee concerning
thy servants. And then he ends up this psalm with five requests. And I hope these requests are
my requests and your requests in light of the brevity of life. Here's the first request, verse
14. Oh, satisfy us early. with thy mercy that we may rejoice
and be glad all our days. Now the only thing that's gonna
satisfy me, I mean really satisfy me, is if salvation is by pure,
sheer mercy. I can't find any satisfaction
in anything else. If you tell me that there's one
thing I need to do before God can do something for me, I have
no satisfaction. I'm scared to death. Let me find
the satisfaction of pure, free mercy and grace where all God
requires of me, he gives to me in Christ. That's the only thing
that satisfies me. I'm satisfied with that. Anything
else, I have no satisfaction. Satisfy me early. I don't want
to wait on this. You know, if you're, if you're,
whenever you get to it, you know, that's, that's not the cry of
the believer. I want it right now. I want to
be satisfied early with your mercy, salvation by the mercy
of God in Christ Jesus. And here's what he says next verse. 15, make us glad. And you know, notice he says,
make us glad. I don't want to make myself glad
because it'll end up being something wrong with it. I mean, I'll be
glad for the wrong reason or, and it'll only be temporary.
I want the Lord to make me glad. Don't you? I want to be glad.
I don't want to be depressed and bummed out all the time.
I want to be glad. I want to, I want to, but I want
the Lord to make me glad. That's the only kind of good
gladness there is when he makes you glad. Lord, make me glad. According to the days wherein
thou has afflicted us in the years wherein we've seen evil.
I have no doubt that he's talking about those 40 years in the wilderness.
Those were bad times. Bad times. He said, oh, I want
you to make me glad. Make me glad all the time. According to those years I had
in the wilderness, however long that was, let me experience the
rest of my time in gladness. Verse 16. Here's the third request. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children. Let your work appear
glorious. You know, when I see creation,
I want to be awed by his glory, don't you? At all times. I don't want to be indifferent.
I want to be awed by his glory. Let your work appear glorious.
His work in providence. I mean, every one of us have
our own story that he's done for us in his providence. And
I want to always be awed, not, why did the Lord let this happen?
Why the Lord let that happen? With some kind of bad attitude,
almost sitting in judgment on God. Why did he let this take
place? No, I want to be awed in thankfulness over everything
he does. In everything, Paul said, give
thanks for this is the will of God. Whatever it is, this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I want to be
thankful for everything he sends my way, but most especially,
I want to see his glorious work of salvation and always see it
as glorious. I want to always sing in my heart,
amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I want his work, the work of
his salvation. He did it all, I know that. That
my soul knoweth right well. And I want his work to always
appear glorious to me. Now here's the fourth request. Verse 17. And let the beauty
of the Lord our God be upon us. Oh, the beauty of his righteousness. Isn't it beautiful and glorious
how God has made a way to be just? and make me just when I
know in and of myself what I am. How beautiful the gospel is.
How beautiful his righteousness is. Oh, let the beauty of the
Lord, the beauty of his righteousness be upon me. Oh, I want the beauty
of his righteousness. And then the fifth request is establish thou. the work of our
hands upon us. Yea, the work of our hands, establish
thou it. Now, we know that we don't want to, I don't, I want what I do to
be for the glory of God. Whatever it is. Whether I'm preparing
a message or sweeping the streets, doesn't matter what it is. And
we're asking the Lord, we know there's nothing to our works,
but we're asking the Lord, the work you've given us, whatever
it is, being a mom, being a dad, being a ditch digger, being a
president, Washing the dishes, whatever it is, whatever it is,
let us do for your glory. And the work of our hands, establish
thou it.