Numbering our Days
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1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
History of new year celebrations - traditions
What determines the new year?
Gregorian Calendar - Complete orbit of the earth around the sun, which takes 365 and 1/4 days.
Jewish Calendar, more complex, trying to adjust to conform to the lunar and solar years
What does God really care about the new year?
Something in the minds of people even Christians when the new years rolls along is that
I have to change something. There are things I need to improve on.
And every new year the same resolution is made. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
We deal with our character flaws as if addressing them is entirely up to us.
A lot of the problems are spiritual, relying on the flesh cannot help us change these things.
Jesus said in John 6:63
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
We need the help of Almighty God through the Holy Spirit. We need to yield to the Lord Jesus and heed His words.
Two commands we have to commit to in this New Year (say them with me):
YIELD and HEED
One thing I want to be this new year is to spend every moment in prayer and that is likewise my prayer for this church, that you become men and women of prayer.
We can learn from Moses through the only Psalm that he wrote, the oldest psalm: Psalm 90.
(talk) instead of resetting our goals, every year, we are to number our days.
The central theme of this Psalm is in verse 12:
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
What does it mean to number our days?
Paul said in Ephesians:
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
In another translation, “redeeming the time” is “make the best use of time”.
Some truths we learn from the Psalm of Moses:
1) God is eternal and we are to live for things of eternal value.
2) Human life is short and our time on earth is limited.
3) In man’s fallen state, we are marred by sin.
4) God’s compassion leads us to repent and live for Him.
1) God is eternal and we are to live for things of eternal value.
1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
God is a dwelling place - he is a refuge to us..
He is a dwelling place and a refuge to those who choose to dwell in Him and run to Him.
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
In these uncertain times that we live in, isn’t it comforting to know that the eternal God is our refuge.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Mountains speak of permanence - God is the eternal constant, He never changes.
This 2024, God is not going anywhere, you can trust Him.
He knows the end from the beginning, before you do anything, He already knows.
You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee. - St. Augustine
We are made to belong to God, but man keeps turning away from Him
And it is no wonder there is so much restlessness, malcontent and even strife in the lives of many..
Actually society is collectively drifting away from God.. no wonder our society in our times is getting worse and worse…
Anecdote of Peggy’s (Pastor Scott’s wife) observation..
2) Human life is short and our time on earth is limited.
Like we need to be reminded of it. People are delusional to think and to live like they will live forever.
3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
Allusion to what God said to Adam: “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
No one will remember things that we do for ourselves. What we toiled for.. vanity verse
If God is eternal, and we are created for Him then live for what matters to God!
5 You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
Life can change in an instant, like a flood we can be swept away by something that is abrupt — no one plans to die — ponder about it with a Bible in your hand.
6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.
talking of life - in the book of James we are told that life is like a vapor
3) In man’s fallen state, we are marred by sin.
Have you heard of this saying: Man is by nature good.
The triumph of the human spirit.
All lies from the enemy..
Man is by nature sinful and a holy God cannot stand sin. The sin of Israel.
7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
“secret sins” is an oxymoron, it is a contradiction
There will be a day of reckoning, a day of judgement.
It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of a living God
9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
The children of Israel, all those 40 years of disobedience, they accomplished nothing permanent, no high points, no accomplishments, nothing built — all a disappointment—
10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Moses lived to be 120
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
Never underestimate God’s anger at sin and the consequence of it.
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
This is the turning point of this Psalm.
Does not mean count our days, I’ve been alive for 21,195 days today.
Make our life matter to God and for eternity.
“A heart of wisdom.” Wisdom is determined by where our heart is.
“He is not a fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” - Jim Elliott
4) God’s compassion leads us to repent and live for Him.
13 Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
A cry for mercy, God turned His back on Israel
15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
Moses is asking the Lord not to treat Israel as they deserve - this is where the grace of God comes in.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Here Moses appeals to the steadfast love of God..
Chesed word here
God can restore the years, the enemy had taken from you.
Weeping may last through the night… but joy comes in the morning.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
There is a glory promised the children of God.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.
We should labor for what will last forever.
Jesus said greater things we will do..
The task ahead of us will not be easy.
I wish I can tell you that 2024 is an easy year. We face an election year — emotions are going to run high— the war in the middle east — can lead to world war 3 —- the global pro-Palestinian protests will be around and may turn to BLM like riots — PRAY!
How do we number our days?
“We ought to be living as if Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back this afternoon.” - Adrian Rogers
Christ’s atoning work for us 2000 years ago is as fresh as yesterday
Living His resurrected life today
Be found obedient when He returns.
YIELD AND HEED
Yield to God
Heed His Word!
Live for things eternal.
Do not waste your life in sinful living.
Labor in light of Jesus’ soon return.
We’ll pray a prayer of thanksgiving for 2023, repentance and submission for 2024.