Moses’ Psalm

There are two interesting things about Psalm 90:

1) It’s the only Psalm written by Moses.

2) It’s the oldest Psalm in your Bible.

It’s suggested that Numbers 20 is the context of the Psalm. I think that’s a good possibility. We will assume that is the case as we break down this Psalm. The Psalm is the prayer of an aging Moses who is approaching the end of his days. His thoughts are edifying. In fact, I believe this is where the thoughts of most godly people go when they reach their latter years. We’re going to consider four thoughts of the aged saint.

First let’s consider the context. In Numbers 20 Moses experiences great life change.

1) His dear sister Miriam dies. While they had problems throughout their lives they remained close.

2) Moses, in a fit of anger strikes the rock rather than speaks to it. The Lord tells him he will die before they enter the Promised Land.

3) Aaron, his beloved brother and partner in ministry, dies.

As it often does for many saints, trial leads Moses into worship. Psalm 90 is a humbled man of God putting his mind on what matters most in life. Let’s look at four thoughts of the aged saint.

1. His thoughts were of God (1-2).

We note two things- the security and eternality of God.

Moses says God has been his dwelling place. When Moses thinks of where he has lived he doesn’t think of the slave hut in which he was born. He doesn’t think of the palace in which he was raised. He doesn’t think of the desert tents which had been his home for most of his life.

The reality is Moses had been living as a nomad, a traveler. He was wandering in the wilderness. In fact he knew he would never see the Promised Land so he could not even think of a home there. Moses says to the Lord “I have dwelt in you”. Notice he says that in every generation he has dwelt in the Lord.

When he was in that slave hut he was in the Lord.

When he was in the Nile River he was in the Lord.

When he was in the palace he was in the Lord.

When he was in the desert he was in the Lord.

Now, in the wilderness he was in the Lord.

The believer is never truly homeless. Our dwelling place is in the Lord. Moses looks back on his life and recognizes that he has been hidden in God, sheltered by God, God has been his refuge. This is the security of God.

In verse two we see the eternality of God. Moses recognizes the Lord as the Father of all creation. The language used is metaphorical. It’s as if the earth is giving birth to the mountains and no one is there to see it but God. The mountains come forth. Even the earth itself did not exist before the Lord. In language only an infinite mind could truly comprehend we are told “From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God!”

Moses stood in awe of God. He had had seen more of God than any other living person in history. As he approached the end of life he thought of God. I think that is true for many. We should anticipate this. We should think of that glorious moment when we will see the eternal God. This great invisible God who has been our dwelling place from generation to generation will show Himself to us. The eternal will become visible. We will see the One who has seen everything. In seeing the One who has seen everything we have in fact seen everything worth seeing ourselves.

2. His thoughts were of sin (3-9).

In verse 3 we see the wages of sin. God has given humanity a death sentence because of sin. Just as He created us from the dust of the ground He returns us to the dust of the ground.

In verse 4 Moses says a thousand years is like a day to God. It’s nothing. One could be like Methuselah and live to be 969 years but that is nothing to God.

In verses 5-6 he says man is so feeble God could sweep us all away in a flood like He did Noah’s generation. He said we’re like the grass which brows overnight and is mown down the next day.

Verses 7-9 include references to sins that bring earthly judgments. Israel knew well the consequences of sin on a personal and a national level. Nothing could be hidden from God. He sees even the secret sins.

These are the thoughts of a mature saint. We know that soon we will see God. We know that He knows us inside and out. We know that we are sinners and the wages of sin is death. We have seen the devastating effects of sin in our country and in our own lives.

We know that we deserve to be blown down and mown down. The believer would go insane if he only dwelt on his sin. Thank God we have a Savior. We have One who absorbed the full blow of God’s wrath for our sins.

Believer, do not think of your sin without thinking of Christ. You cannot handle that. You will live in nothing but fear and trembling. You will go to your death with nothing but dread.

It is true that God knows our sin perfectly. He knows the depths of our sin. He knows the number of our sins. But He knows the righteousness of Christ as well. He has chosen by His grace not to look upon our sin but to look upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

When He looks upon the righteousness of Christ He sees One who never sinned. He could search for all eternity and He would never find a single sin. That, my friend, is how God sees the believer.

Thinking of our sin is a good thing. It humbles us. It causes us to praise God for His grace. But never think of your sin without thinking of your Savior.

3. His thoughts were of the brevity of life (10-12).

Moses says a person can expect to live seventy years, possibly eighty. But even then, he says in verse 11, the Lord has the power to take us out at any time.

No matter how long we live Moses says we are soon cut off. Life is brief at best. Other than Caleb and Joshua all the wilderness generation under twenty when the spies entered the land died within forty years.

God told them they were going to die within forty years (Numbers 14:33). If a person was forty they knew they wouldn’t see their 80th birthday. If they were twenty they knew they wouldn’t see their 60th birthday. They knew that yet it didn’t change the way they lived.

Moses asks the Lord to teach us to number our days. He knew that was a hard lesson for people to learn. By the way, the closer they got to the Promised Land the closer Moses knew he was getting to his death.

Moses witnessed his sister, his brother and an entire generation of people die.

As we age death becomes such a reality. The people we grew up with, the people we looked up to, they all start to die. Our definition of old even changes as we grow older. Suddenly seventy isn’t that old!

Imagine how young we all are to God. Have you ever thought of that? Everyone is young to God. He is the Ancient of Days. He is the First and the Last. He is from everlasting to everlasting. We are all children in the eyes of God.

Time has a way of making us feel so small. As preachers we start off wanting to win the world to Jesus. When we get to the end we are just hoping we won or family. The brevity of life.

Everyday approximately 360,000 people check into this world and 151,600 check out. Soon we will all join that number checking out.

Note that Moses asks the Lord to teach him to number his days. He doesn’t say decades. He doesn’t say years. He doesn’t say months. He doesn’t say weeks. He says days.

Life is too short to waste an hour much less a season.

We can’t afford to waste our youth, our adolescence, our adult years, middle age years or our senior years.

Time cannot be bought.

Time cannot be stored away.

Time cannot be paused.

The clock is ticking even if we do not hear it. We are to redeem the time.

The Christians last years are not to be filled with sorrow. If we can see the shore we are not to stop enjoying the ride. Soon we will dock this old ship. After years of battling the angry waves and storms of this life a sandy shore should put a smile on our faces.

The joy of what Christ has done for us should be greater than the burden of what we left undone for Him. I’m afraid sometimes we live in despair because we torture ourselves over what we could have done. I’m not justifying disobedience. But what is done is done. What is under the blood is under the blood. Christ gave you the promise of “I go to prepare a place for you” for a reason. At the end of our life we are still called to look forward. Not to some great work we will do for God. We are to look toward the great work God has for done for us. We are headed to a city whose Builder and Make is God! When we arrive the short ride over will seem like a mere walk across the street. It is good to think of the brevity of life but don’t forget to couple that with the eternity waiting for us.

4. His thoughts were of the next generation (13-17).

Moses, the great intercessor, steps in for his people once again in verse 13. He is praying “Give us grace!”

In verse 14 he says “Give us mercy and joy!”

In verse 15 he says “Give us as much joy as we have received suffering!”

He’s speaking of earthly things here. He wants to see Israel’s life turned around for good. Moses is thinking about the future. He knows he won’t be there.

God help us to pray for things we know we’ll never experience!

Look at verse 16 and you see his heart is set on the future.

Verse 17 points to a future work by a future generation. Moses desires the beauty and favor of the Lord to rest on the coming generation. He wants God to establish His work through His people.

In our final days may we not grow weary of the young! May we love them and seek the blessing of God upon them. Remember it is the young going into the land. Only those under twenty when the spies surveyed the land had the privilege.

God is going to use the generation after us. That may be hard to see. Often they are so much different than us, just as we were from those before us. Hear me, every generation is weak, frail, sinful and dying. Yet God has a people in every generation. Instead of looking with disdain on those behind us we should look at them with joy. We should pray for them.

Listen, I doubt every generation. I don’t care who they are. No one can do the work that needs to be done. But I do not doubt God. God is building His church. When He finishes there will not be another generation. But whatever generation is here you can bet God will be using them for His glory.

I want to be a part of the great cloud of witnesses cheering them on to do the work of God by the grace of God! May our thoughts be on the next generation!

Consider the aged saint:

1. His thoughts were of God (1-2).

2. His thoughts were of sin (3-9).

3. His thoughts were of the brevity of life (10-12).

4. His thoughts were of the next generation (13-17).