Psalm 90 | Limited Life, Unlimited God

A Prayer of Moses the man of God. 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.

INTRO:

Have you ever been pressed for time?

Find yourself intensely focused?

Seek out wisdom and help?

Plead for mercy regarding your shortcomings?

Ask God to help your efforts?

Surprised how much you could pack in when urgent?

Has time ever went really slow for you?

Anticipation drew out the time

Suffering seemed it would never end?

Monotony went on and on while time just dragged?

Humor—A husband once said he had been married 45 years, but it has only seemed like 5 minutes…under water!

Funny how those two last words drastically change the condition and experience of time.

Moses is writing one of three psalms he wrote, and the only one actually in the Psalms.

He experienced 40 years in Egypt, 40 years in a desert, and 40 years leading the people of Israel through a wilderness.

He saw hundreds of thousands, and likely over a million, people die in that wilderness on their way to the Promise Land.

The people of Israel had grieved both Moses and the LORD over and over.

Feared to enter the Promise Land

Created and worshiped idols while Moses met with God

Lusted after the way of Egypt

Doubted God’s ability to provide

Almost revolted against Moses

For Moses, this these experiences had to seem like forever!

…but not so for God.

God exists outside of time, so He exists in the past, present, and future eternally.

God is beyond our comprehension!

God is super (above and beyond) natural (state of things in nature).

Consider some attributes of God’s nature as described in the Scripture:

Moral, or communicable attributes:

Holy

Love

Just

True

Etc

Metaphysical, or incommunicable attributes:

Eternal

Infinite

Incomprehensible

Incomparable

Immutable (unchanging)

Immortal

Omnipresent

Omniscient

Omnipotent

Self-existent

Self-sufficient

Sovereign

Trinity

PROPOSITION:

Psalm 90 magnifies our need for God.

God is beyond our comprehension

We need God.

God made Himself available to us through Christ.

TRANSITION:

Psalm 90 lets us listen in as Moses prays to the LORD.

We will find three primary requests that we also need of the LORD.

Moses describes God’s eternality, man’s frailty, and God’s just judgement of sin. (vs. 1-11)

God is eternal and timeless (vs. 1-2)

God justly judges our sin (vs. 3-11)

Moses prays for wisdom, mercy, and grace to help our use of time on this earth (vs. 12-17)

#1 Teach us to number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom. (vs. 12)

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Dean Chose Wisdom

An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.

“Done!” says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, “Say something.”

The dean looks at them and says, “I should have taken the money.”

Psalm 90:12 KJV

12 So teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Proverbs 2:6 KJV

6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 4:7 KJV

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: And with all thy getting get understanding.

#2 Give us mercy that we may rejoice and be glad. (vs. 13-15)

10,000 Sermon Illustrations I Plead For Mercy

A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.

“But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.”

“But your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied.

“Sir,” the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.”

“Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son.

Luis Palau, “Experiencing God’s Forgiveness,” Multnomah Press, 1984

Psalm 90:13–15 KJV

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.

From a NT perspective, Christ’s salvation is the ultimate gift of mercy and grace that lets us rejoice and be glad with God.

Ephesians 2:3–10 KJV

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

#3 Make Your grace evident in our lives and work. (vs. 16-17)

Psalm 90:16–17 KJV

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.

See God’s grace evident in the life and work of Apostle Paul:

1 Corinthians 15:9–10 KJV

9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

10,000 Sermon Illustrations It’s Grace

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religious had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about? He asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.

Phillip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace, Zondervan, 1997, p. 45

CONCLUSION:

As humans, we are limited and frail, but God is unlimited.

We ought to seek God and ask for His wisdom, mercy, and grace.

God is rich and willing to give of Himself to us, and He has made that clear especially through Jesus’ sacrificial offering for our sin.