A life of wisdom.

Intro

We began to study Psalm 90 together a few weeks back and go through verse 6.

This Psalm is the only one that is attributed to Moses.

In the first 6 verse a significant, and very distinct contrast was laid out for us.

The eternal nature of God, and the temporary nature of humans on earth.

Psalm 90 ESV

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

God the righteous judge. 7-12

The third section of Psalm 90 (vv. 7–12) recognizes that man’s greatest problem is not just his frailty

That we exist for only a short bit of time and are then no more.

It is that all mankind are also a sinners

Because of this all mankind are subject to the just wrath of God.

In fact, it is sin that is the cause of his death and misery.

Sin is the reason for the brevity of life.

7  For we are brought to an end by your anger;

by your wrath we are dismayed.

8  You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9  For all our days pass away under your wrath;

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10  The years of our life are seventy,

or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span is but toil and trouble;

they are soon gone, and we fly away.

11  Who considers the power of your anger,

and your wrath according to the fear of you?

Moses has set the weakness of man and the shortness of his life against the grandeur and eternity of God

Now he traces man’s mortality to its roots, seeing death as a judgment for sin.

Moses is trying to show that death is linked to sin and is caused by it.

We die because Adam sinned (see Rom. 5:12–21), and because we sin ourselves.

Are you aware that sin always leads to death?

To the death of dreams, hopes, plans, relationships, health, and eventually even to that ultimate spiritual death that is a separation from God forever?

If you are aware of this, you will not treat sin lightly, as many do.

You will say with David, “Who can discern his errors?

Forgive my hidden faults” (Ps. 19:12).

You will pray, “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me” (v. 13). You will strive to live an upright life before God.

Confessing sin.

In your marriage, are you growing in your relationship that you can confess sins to one another.

Parents, are you creating an environment where your children are comfortable confessing sins to you?

As a church, are we able to confess our sins?

They are no secret to God.

Even our secret sins are in the light of His presence.

Milton Vincent writes in his book, A Gospel Primer for Christians

As long as I am stricken with the guilt of my sins, I will be captive to them, and will often find myself re-committing the very sins about which I feel most guilty. The Devil is well aware of this fact; he knows that if he can keep me tormented by sin’s guilt, he can dominate me with sin’s power.

The gospel, however, slays sin at this root point and thereby nullifies sin’s power over me. The forgiveness of God, made known to me through the gospel, liberates me from sin’s power because it liberates me first from its guilt; and preaching such forgiveness to myself is a practical way of putting the gospel into operation as a nullifier of sin’s power in my life.

Romans 6:14 ESV

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Do you go to God with your sin and seek His forgiveness?

Do you go to others and seek their forgiveness when necessary?

That is one of the most humbling a difficult things to do.

None of us like to admit when we are wrong, but it takes humility to admit, and fight against the pride in our life to make the right choice.

We don’t like to think about the wrath of God, but every obituary in the newspaper is a reminder that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

We finish our years “like a sigh” (v. 9, NASB). and marvel that it all went by so fast!

So, now is the time to ask God for wisdom to become better students and stewards of our time and opportunities (v. 12; Deut. 32:29).

We number our years, not our days, but all of us have to live a day at a time, and we do not know how many days we have left.

A successful life is composed of successful days that honor the Lord.

Psalm 90:12 ESV

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

God the wise and merciful Lord. 13-17

This is not solely a psalm of despair though.

Life is a difficult school, and God disciplines us if we fail to learn our lessons and submit to His will, but there is more to the story.

In spite of the “black border” around this psalm, the emphasis is on life and not death.

The past and present experiences of life prepare us for the future, and all of life prepares us for eternity.

When you contrast verses 13–17 with verses. 7–12, you can see the difference.

12-17 is a closing prayer that emphasizes God’s compassion and unfailing love,

His desire to give us joy and satisfaction,

even in the midst of life’s troubles, and His ability to make life count for eternity.

When Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord, the future is your friend.

Humans can enjoy a long life satisfied in the Lord’s unfailing love. Psalm 90 has given us one of our best loved hymns, “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past,” by Isaac Watts, a hymn frequently sung at the closing of the year and even at funerals.

The first verse goes, Our God, our Help in ages past, Our Hope for years to come, Our Shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal Home.

Like Moses, Watts recognized that our lives are insubstantial and fleeting.

After a short duration we fly away “forgotten as a dream.”

But he also knew that believers have an eternal home in God.

This is wisdom in this prayer that applies today.

Wisdom That Applies in All Generations

As Moses finishes his prayer, he concludes with five petitions.

13    Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! 14    Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15    Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16    Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17    Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

From these five petitions, we can glean at least five points of wisdom.

Together they flesh out the wisdom described in verse 12, teach us to number our days, and individually they give us wisdom for our allegiances, appetites, afflictions, affections, and activities.

1. Wisdom for our allegiances (v. 13)

It first gives us wisdom for our allegiances because we were created to serve the Lord.

It is impossible to not serve somebody.

In this verse, Moses identifies himself as the Lord’s servant, and he seeks the Lord’s mercy.

As humans, we are bundle of physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual needs.

And often these needs go on for a long time, pressing us to ask “How long!”

In those long moments of need, when we don’t have clear understanding, we must seek the Lord.

Wisdom seeks God first (Matt. 6:25–34).

Instead of looking to government, work, friends, or savings first, wisdom aligns itself with God and seeks his mercy in our times of need (cf. Heb. 4:14–16).

Hebrews reminds that we have a Great High Priest who has been there.

Counting our days teaches us not to mess around with other weak and fickle providers.

Instead, we should seek the Lord for his mercy first, knowing that all good gifts—even those that come through human means and institutions—come from our father in heaven (James 1:17).

2. Wisdom for our appetites (v. 14)

Human nature also dictates that we live to satisfy our longings.

Even the man who seeks to take his own life, Blaise Pascal noted, is seeking to satisfy his desire for happiness.

The question for us is, Where do we seek satisfaction?

Moses, standing in the wilderness with sheep for forty years and then with the obstinate sheep of Israel for another forty years, teaches us to look to God for satisfaction.

He prays “satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love.”

Indeed, we need to be satisfied by God day-by-day, and wisdom comes in seeking his promises and his love every morning.

Even if our Bible reading and prayer is found at another hour of the day, we must enter the day with eyes set on the Lord, so that his lovingkindness would fill our hearts.

The alternative is to enter into the day with a hungry soul.

And a hungry soul will always seek satisfaction in idols.

Truly, the greatest ways to fight idolatry is to feast on the Lord and his faithfulness (Ps. 37:3).

This the wisdom Moses commends here, and something we should seek every day.

3. Wisdom for our afflictions (v. 15)

Dwelling under the wrath of God in this fallen world, it is not surprising that we have afflictions—turmoil within and troubles without.

As Christians, our troubles are multiplied, because we live in a world that is no longer our own and the enemies of God are our enemies too.

As citizens of a future kingdom, tribulation is the norm, Jesus stated to His followers that in this world you will have trouble, and we will not enter the kingdom of God apart from such pains (Acts 14:22).

With this in mind, Moses prays for gladness that matches, or even exceeds, the number of days of affliction.

For him, God answered his prayer in a unique and specific way.

For every day he spent without the Lord in the Midian wilderness (forty years) would be repaid with a day with the Lord when the Spirit of God led the people of Israel through the Red Sea and throughout the Wilderness (another forty years).

For us, the repayment of gladness for affliction is even greater.

While we cannot guarantee material comfort on this earth for the afflictions we face, the resurrection of Christ promises that all who trust in Christ will be raised with Christ eternally.

Indeed, Paul says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Cor. 4:17–18).

We can pray with confidence, therefore, that whatever troubles we have now, they will be as nothing compared to the kingdom Jesus is bringing when he returns.

In the waiting period, wise disciples keep this future reality on the forefront of their minds.

Such a hope tempers the pain we have now and it helps us turn away from immediate satisfaction in illicit pleasures.

Instead, it gives us strength to live for the Lord.

This is significant now it the times we are living whether we contract COVID-19 or are kept virus-free, no matter what happens with our country.

Our hope as Christians is in Christ kingdom, of which we are a part, a kingdom that will never fail.

4. Wisdom for our affections (v. 16)

Moses prayer also teaches us to look to the Lord and his works.

If our focus is self-centered, if our relationship with God looks for him to bolster and improve our works, we will ultimately be disappointed.

Moses himself learned, God does not always give us what we want—even when it is a good thing.

Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land.

Like Abraham before him and Elijah after him, Moses was one of countless saints who died with longing in their hearts.

(Abraham longed for his inheritance; Moses longed to be in the land; Elijah longed for revival).

Yet, Moses does not pray for his own success; he prays to see God’s glorious works displayed.

There is much wisdom in this prayer, for God loves to reveal his glory to those who ask in faith.

More broadly, we can say Christianity is not a system of self-actualization: “With God on my side, I can do all things.”

Rather, Christianity is a belief system that calls individuals to die to their dreams and desires, so that they arise with the hope of Christ’s glory first and foremost in their hearts.

Wisdom leads us to place our affections in the works that God is doing—whether that be comfort or suffering for the church today.

5. Wisdom for our activities (v. 17)

Finally, Moses prayer teaches us to hold our works lightly.

While God’s works are perfect in power and eternal in their effect (see Ps. 90:1–2), ours are not.

In fact, if anything goes well in our works, it is because of God’s grace.

Living under the wrath of God (vv. 7–11), we might even be surprised when good things happen.

We shouldn’t be surprised that God manifests his goodness to those who take refuge in him.

But when he permits us to accomplish our goals, we should count it a gift of his gracious mercy, not something he owes us.

Moses, mighty in word and deed, had to learn humility.

And part of that humility can be seen in this verse.

Psalm 90:17 ESV

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

He did not treat his works as secure in themselves.

Instead, he entreated the Lord to confirm the works of his hands.

We should do the same.

In success, we should give praise.

In failure, we should content ourselves in God and the refuge he gives us.

In all of our days, we should trust that God is working all things for our good, for those who love God, and are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28–29).

All in all, this sort of God-centered way of life is the beginning of wisdom.

Moses had to learn it and so do we.

Let us not lose heart in these days.

Instead, let us continue to do what Moses did and said in Psalm 90:1—

Let us seek the Lord as our dwelling place and walk in the wisdom that an eternal perspective gives us.

The time we live in is no more difficult than times in the past. It is different in that we are living in it.

God is still at work, accomplishing his eternal plans.

May he give us his wisdom to trust him and to walk in his ways.

For truly, in every generation, this is his unchanging promise, that he is our dwelling place in this life and in the one to come.

Let us hold fast to that hope, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom as we learn how to number our days.