A Grassy People

Text: Psa 90:1-17; Isaiah 40:6

Psalm 90:1–17 (KJV 1900)

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.

Isa 40:6

6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.”

I. The Brevity of Our Life

A. The Length of our days as an average is 70 years. - v.10 “The days of our years are threescore years and ten;”

The oldest man who ever lived was Methuselah who lived 969 years.

Gen 5:21-27 “21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. 25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.”

The youngest person who ever lived are many of the unborn babies who have been murdered through abortion in our Modern World.

B. The Truth of this statement: “Life is short even at its longest.”

II. The Burden of This Life.

A. Sin has marred the handy work of God in this old world.

Heartache and Suffering are part of this life. When Adam and Eve sinned it ushered into our world something that was foreign to God’s intentions for this old world - Death. James 1:13-15

James 1:13–15 KJV 1900

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

ii. God’s Curse remains on this physical world in which we know. Ezek 18:4

Ezekiel 18:4 KJV 1900

4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

iii. This world is under God’s Judgement. vs.

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.

Job 5:7

Job 5:7 KJV 1900

7 Yet man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward.

B. Sin has cause this life to be pleged by many trials and troubles.

III. The Blessing Of This Life.

A. Jesus said He came that we might have Life and that more abundantly. John 10:10

John 10:10 KJV 1900

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Psa 90:12-15

Psalm 90:12–15 (KJV 1900)

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.

B. Truth and Grace came when Jesus came into the world. Mercy has kissed Judgement and Mercy rejoices over Judgement.

John 1:14-17 “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Jam 2:13

James 2:13 (KJV 1900)

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

English Standard Version Chapter 34

Exodus 34:6–7

6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Matthew 5:7

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Luke 6:35–36

35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Luke 10:25–37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite