Saturday, September 17, 2011

Psalm 90

1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
17 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.

Key Verse:
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Key Observation:
A man could expect to live to about 70 in the days of Moses; today a man can live to about 70—yet science claims to be extending life span. World life span expectancy is 69.2 years according to world estimates.

Memory Verse:
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Devotion:

This is the only psalm written by Moses. McGee mentions that since it is the first psalm written, it might be expected to be Psalm 1. Instead it pleased God to put it in as Psalm 90, the first of what McGee calls the Number psalms. These psalms, Psalm 90 through Psalm 106, constitute the Number psalms.

I recall that as a youngster just learning to devour all available reading material, I read often in the newspapers that life expectancy of man would increase to well over a 100 for my generation. Well, here I am, and life expectancy has increased in the US to the mid seventies. I feel like I got cheated! Well, not really, because God has given me blessings many in my brief years, and eternal life to look forward to. Even if men were to live to a thousand years, the time would be brief compared to eternity.

Today, at Grandma’s, waiting for her to finish getting ready, I read a pamphlet about C.S. Lewis. It was a short but excellent synopsis of how Lewis grew in the faith and the books that he wrote were paralleled with his life experiences at the time. I remember reading that Lewis commented that it would be a good thing to follow Christianity if one found it helpful, whether or not it was true. But somewhere along his pursuit for truth, Lewis came to recognize the gospel as truth, and thus became redeemed, not because he thought it helpful, but because he found it true.

My life experience in coming to Christ was similar to that; I actually did not find out about the promises of eternal life until after being confronted with Truth, and coming to my reckoning with Him. I had begun my Bible reading by reading prophecy, and it was through prophecy that God deemed to bring me to Him. Later that same month I read the gospels and found oh, so much more! Every word that God has promised will be proven true. Even if faithless men are crying today, "where is the promise of his coming?", yet still the words of Moses prove true: “4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”

El Shaddai
Songwriters: Card, Michael; Thompson, John W;


El Shaddai, el shaddai
El-elyon na adonia
Age to age you're still the same
By the power of the name
El shaddai, el shaddai
Erkamka na adonai
I will praise and lift you high
El shaddai

Through your love and through the ram
You saved the son of Abraham
Through the power of your hand
You turned the sea into dry land
To the outcast on her knees
You were the God who really sees
And by your might
You set your children free

El shaddai, el shaddai
El-elyon na adonia
Age to age you're still the same
By the power of the name
El shaddai, el shaddai
Erkamka na adonai
I will praise and lift you high
El shaddai

El shaddai, el shaddai
El-elyon na adonai
Age to age you're still the same
By the power of the name
El shaddai, el shaddai
Erkamka na adonai
I will praise and lift you high
El shaddai

Through the years you've made it clear
That the time of Christ was near
Though the people couldn't see
What Messiah ought to be
Your most awesome work was done
Through the frailty of your son

I will praise and lift you high
El shaddai

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