PSALM 90: THE FRAILTY OF MAN AND THE ETERNITY OF GOD

 

"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,  from everlasting to everlasting you are God.  3 You return man to dust and say, ‘Return, O children of man!' 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.  So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom... '" 

Psalm 90

Lately, I have had Psalm 90 on my mind thinking about the brevity of life after the passing of loved ones, brethren, and family.  Death seems to be all around us.  People close to me are dying of COVID-19 and other natural causes, but also by accident and suicide, both young and old.  It is alarming!  As I meditate on this Psalm, I realize that we must walk in the shadow of death from the day we are born.  Man must return to the dust from which he was made.

"By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen. 3:19).  

God moves us in a flash through this earthly life into a final sleep.  We are quickly born, and we quickly die.  Although everything in life is controlled by time, God is not constrained by such things.   We human beings are here one day and gone tomorrow. We are like new grass that sprouts up but withers quickly under the heat of the sun. Our lives here on earth are indeed short.  Our lives are like morning and evening against the eternal nature of God. We would like to think that we can live our lives as if there was no end, but such a way of thinking is foolish.  

Psalm 90 is the oldest Psalm and was written by Moses as a prayer to God.   According to Psalm 90:10, our life span is 70 years and 80 years if we are strong. Yet such years are full of toil and trouble. But soon, our days are gone, and we are here no more.  None of us like to think about the brevity of life. However, God wants to remind us of life’s purpose.  He wants us to be mindful that our time is short and that we must serve Him faithfully while still alive.  He will hold us accountable for our actions.  Psalm 90 compels us to be sober and examine our lives.  This Psalm describes the frailty of mankind and his reason to acknowledge that God is eternal and man is not.  Why?  Because God resides outside the boundaries of time, which control and rule man’s thinking.  

In James 4:14, we are reminded that our life is just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Thus, we must meditate on life’s brevity and our purpose in life according to God’s will. We must number our days so that we may learn to live wisely.  How often do people neglect their families, believing that they have plenty of time in the future to enjoy them?  How often do people fail to seek God, thinking that they can return to Him later, but it turns out that it is too late? How often do we plunge ourselves into sinful living, thinking that there will always be time to repent?  

I encourage you to read and meditate on Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12. When we deceive ourselves, thinking that we have a whole life ahead of us, we behave just like the rich fool who was just concerned about “building bigger barns.” Little did he know that God was going to claim his soul that same night. Hence, let us examine our hearts, for our lives are short here on earth.  We must make the most of our time, taking advantage of every opportunity to draw closer to God and serve Him faithfully.  It is a grave mistake to assume that we have tomorrow, for we have been promised only today.  Today is the day of salvation.  Think about it!

I have chosen Psalm 90 in my study because it is unique.  This Psalm is attributed to Moses (Exodus 15; Deuteronomy 32). It has been suggested that this Psalm was written because of Moses’ painful events in life. (1) The death of Miriam, (2) Moses’ sin of striking the rock, and (3) The death of Aaron.  Moses lost his sister, brother, and the right to enter the Promised Land because of his sin.  I don’t doubt that his circumstances compelled him to reflect on them and pray to God.   

I hope you enjoy Psalm 90 as you study with me and meditate on it.  May God richly bless you as a result.

I.   THE ETERNAL GRANDEUR OF GOD:  (90:1-2)

“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,  from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” 

• God is Our Dwelling Place:

Moses' prayer song begins with a recognition of God, acknowledging that God is our refuge and the dwelling place for His people in every generation.  God is the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth.  Moses led the nation of Israel for forty years through the wilderness with God as their permanent home.  Through God, Israel found life, protection, and hope.  God was their dwelling place, and He is ours as well.  Moses praises God for His eternal nature, for He is our eternal Creator (verse 2).  God is the Creator of the mountains, the earth, and the world.  He brought His creation into existence to accomplish His eternal purpose.  He stands behind them as the eternally-present One.  He travails in birth over them, and He fathers them. He is self-existent and self-sustaining.  He is the all-powerful One, for He is from the infinite past to the infinite future.  

Since He lives above time, He dwells in the eternal present.  Such beauty is more than words can express!   It is hard for mankind to fathom God’s eternal grandeur because life on earth is defined by time.  Our frail and temporal character is more vivid when we contrast it with God's eternal character.  From eternity to eternity, there is no beginning or end to God. Since God is eternal, He sees it all and knows what is best for us.  

II.   THE FRAILTY OF MANKIND:  (90-3-12)

“You return man to dust and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’  4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.  5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:  6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.  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?  12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”’

• From the Day We Are Born, We Live Under The Shadow Of Death:  (Verse 3) 

In the Garden of Eden, God declared that man must return to the dust from which his body was fashioned (Gen. 3:19).  Man must yield to God’s sentence to “return” to the dust.  God’s decree is part of His judgment after Adam’s sin.  And though Adam’s sin was not passed on to his children (his spiritual guilt), his physical death was.  Mankind carries the burden of mortality because of Adam’s sin.

"For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead"  (1 Cor. 15:21).

• God’s Eternal Nature Is Contrasted With Man’s Frailty:  (Verse 4)  

Though God endures forever, we must return to the dust.  

“For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”

Time is inconsequential to God. Although our lives are controlled by time, God is not constrained by such.  Our work, our sleep, our meals: everything in life is completely controlled by time. That is precisely Moses’ statement. And though a thousand years seem immense to us, it is meaningless to God.  The apostle Peter made the same statement in 2 Peter 3:8.

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Both Moses and Peter help us to grasp the eternal nature of God. God is not bound or constrained by time. Peter’s point is that man must not be deceived into thinking that God is slow concerning His promises, for He is not bound by time. God does not operate within such time constraints. God is eternal, and we can not expect Him to act quickly on our behalf, simply because our lives are short. Moses contrasts man’s nature of being bound by time against God’s eternal character not bound by time.

• Man’s Temporal Nature:  (Verses 5-6)

“5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:  6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.”

We, humans, are here one day and gone tomorrow.  Our lives are brief here on earth.  Moses uses three metaphors to illustrate the brevity of life. 

• A flood:

“5 You sweep them away as with a flood.”

It means to be flooded away.  Man’s life on earth is hurried as a house is tragically carried away by the rising waters of a flood.  The flood comes, destroys, devastates, and speeds away.  

• Dream or Sleep:

“They are like a dream.”

In other translations, it says, “They fall asleep.”  God moves us in a flash from this life into a final sleep.  Man is quickly born and quickly dies.  

• Grass:

“Like grass that is renewed in the morning. 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.”

Man is born, lives, and dies in the same way that the grass “sprouts,” living a cycle of life.  The grass bursts into life but is wilted under the burning sun.  Grass has a momentary lifespan.  In the same way, our lives are short at their longest because of our frail earthly existence.  We are like new grass that sprouts up, but under the heat, it quickly dies. Moses uses the image of morning and evening. Our lives are short, like a morning and evening against God’s eternal nature. Life breaks into this world at birth (‘in the morning.”)  It grows vigorously, but with a blink of the eye, “evening” comes.  With “evening,” life fades, withers, and dies.  We deceive ourselves when we think we have an eternity of life here on earth.  We live our lives as if there is no end.  That is pure foolishness!  

• Dismayed By God’s Wrath:  (Verses 7-9)

“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.”

Moses continues this Psalm with the frailty of mankind because of sin.  Our sins are linked to death.  After speaking of our mortality, he goes on to talk about the frailty of humanity in light of our sins. Our mortality traces back to judgment for our sins. Our sins stand before God. Our hidden sins are exposed in God’s presence. God is aware of our sins!  Our sins are evident to Him.  Because of our iniquities, we live under God’s cloud of wrath.  God’s righteousness judges our sins.  God’s condemnation of sin dismays or terrifies us.  Who can stand before God’s righteousness?   

God’s wrath takes its toll on us.  

“9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.”

Our sins turn our songs into sobs.  Our lives begin with crying (the cry of a baby) and end with sighing.

• The Brevity Of Our Lives:  (Verse 10)

“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.”

Moses tells us that man’s life span ranges in length, possibly to 70 years of life.  Some are expected to live 80 years if they are strong or healthy. Yet these years of life are nothing but toil and trouble. Our days are soon gone, and we fly away.   The longer we live, the harder life becomes.  And though we might not like to think about the brevity of life, God wants us to be mindful that there is more to life, eternity.  We must be mindful that our time to serve God is short and that He will hold us accountable for what we have done with our lives.  God will judge us according to our actions or works.  

“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

• Seeking God’s Wisdom:  (Verses 11-12)

• “Teach Us to Number our Days” 

“11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?  12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”’

Verse 11 is a two-part question.  

1. To understand the fear of God, we must grasp the depths of God’s righteousness.  Only those who are holy and acknowledge the depth of God’s judgment against sin can understand the dimensions of God’s wrath.  
2. And no matter how tarnished and broken man might be, he must depend on God's wisdom.

Verse 12 constrains us to think about the brevity of life. 

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

We must number our days to learn wisdom and live wisely. We are foolish when we think we have all the time in the world to live.  With this mindset, we make foolish and wicked decisions, neglect our families, assuming we have loads of time in the future to enjoy them.  We ignore God, thinking that we can return to Him later, thus losing our soul for eternity. We plunge ourselves into sinful living, assuming we have plenty of time to repent.  But we forget Jesus’ parable of the rich fool in Luke 12.  We behave like the rich fool when we think we have our whole lives ahead of us to do as we please.  The rich fool was concerned only about “building bigger barns.” Little did he know that very night his life would be required of him. Since our lives are short, we must make the most of the time God has granted us, taking advantage of our opportunities to draw closer to Him. We must never assume that we have tomorrow, for we are promised only today.  

III.   SEEKING GOD’S FAVOR:  (90:13-17)

"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!"

• Moses Prays For God's Mercy: (Verse 13)

In the final section of this Psalm, Moses prays for God’s mercy as he contemplates man’s fragility.  He asks God to return his favor to him and the people. His petition carries the concept of repentance.  

“13 Return, O Lord! How long?  Have pity on your servants!”

God is merciful to the humble in heart who repents from sin.  But God’s favor and mercy toward His people are conditional, for it depends on our obedience to Him.  Although God cannot repent, He can return to His people because of His abundant mercy.  

• God's Steadfast Love:  (Verse 14)

"14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."

Verse 14 is a request centered around God’s steadfast love. Moses’ first request to God was to seek and gain wisdom to number our days. His second request is to be satisfied with God’s faithful love. Apart from God’s lovingkindness, no peace can come to us.  Only God (seeking Him) can fill the void that we try to fill in our lives.  Only He can give us spiritual wholeness.  God’s restoration (the “morning” of grace) brings joy and gladness in its wake.  Sadly, many use possessions and wealth to try to fill the void in their lives. But there can only be fulfillment with God. Trying to find happiness and satisfaction in other places will leave us empty. 

Christians must be different from the world, especially when we want to find satisfaction or fulfillment. We must not behave like the world and the ungodly when we seek joy. Our joy and our satisfaction must be in the Lord. We show our joy by worshipping God, delighting in God’s Word, and fervent prayer. But when our focus is placed in the wrong places (worldly activities, sports, social media, work, or anything else thrown our way to make us stumble), we find it difficult to find our satisfaction in the Lord.  Only in God can we find joy, healing, fullness, peace, and fellowship. 

• Establish The Work of Our Hands:  (Verses 15-17)

"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!"

Moses’ final request to God (verses 15-17) is for Him to establish the work of their hands. This places a responsibility on our part to live in such a way to receive God’s approval (favor) for our actions and to establish our works. 

In verse 15, Moses expresses his years of suffering and those around him.  So he prays.

"15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil."

As he prays, he seeks joy and healing to commensurate with the past's sorrows and evils.  

In verse 16, God’s Grace reveals the nature and greatness of His heart.  They go hand in hand.  

"16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children."

The writer asks God to take action:  visible and obvious.  He does not doubt seeing God’s amazing wonders from His hand.  He acknowledges this truth because of how God has worked through them in the past.  So he pleads to God to show His glorious power to them.  His glory and majesty shine through His gracious deeds.  

Moses’ prayer ends with a double appeal to God’s “favor.”  

"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!"

Moses yearns for God’s approval to rest upon His people through His enduring works.  The word “favor” is translated as “graciousness,” “loving favor,” “sweetness,” or “pleasantness.”  God’s favor is the same as His tender kindness. We cannot ask God to uphold and establish our lives while we live in sin.  We cannot ask God to approve our works while we fail to seek Him diligently and His ways above our own. 

Moses was a great example of seeking God and His ways above his own. 

1. Moses suffered to please God and have His approval.  
2. He left the riches of Egypt to live in the wilderness of Midian. 
3. Moses suffered the scorn of his own people, whom he was trying to deliver from slavery. 
4. Moses endured the criticism of his people and their attempt to murder him as he led them through the desert to the land of Canaan. 
5. But Moses was established by God because he trusted completely in God through their victories and difficulties.

CONCLUSION:

In Psalm 90:4, the writer states that a thousand years in the sight of God are like yesterday or a watch in the night. God returns man back to the dust from which he came, for man is frail and fragile before Him. According to verse 8, God knows us intimately, and nothing gets past God’s observation, not even our secret or hidden sins. We are an open book before God that lies completely transparent before Him!  God knows us and our motivation of heart. It is impossible to fool God!  Though we might fool and deceive others, God will not be fooled. Moses makes two vital points in verses 9-10.  

1. Our lives are lived out as we age, and our power, thinking, and abilities surrender to old age, and our years are finished with just a sigh.  
2. Our lifespan may be 70-80 years, but they are soon gone and fly away. 

Our Psalm compels us to number our days to get a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:11-12).  Mankind must acknowledge that time is precious.  It is indeed a great truth that was retaught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. We must redeem the time, living one day at a time to get a heart of wisdom.  I call it a day’s boundary.  We live in the day, meet God in the day, and make our impact for Him in the day. Thus we must refuse to live in yesterday, the past, or tomorrow, for we must live in today to meet our God.  

Life is short, and God wants us to be glad all our days.  He wants us to be satisfied, filled with joy and gladness as we live out our lives before Him (Psalm 90:13-17).  When God dwells in us, that is, we make God our home, we enter into a cherished relationship with Him, basking in His presence always.  We partake of God’s goodness as He guides us and provides for us.  A home with God is a place of sustenance where He nurtures us and leads us.  God becomes our supreme priority when we dwell with Him.  When we allow Him to dwell in us, God fills our minds and hearts throughout the day and evening falls.  

God is our beginning, continuance, and ending.  We live and die in and with Him!  God, the eternal One, is our forever home.  Only by making God our dwelling home can we make our home eternal.  We become timeless and everlasting as He is everlasting.  Life does not begin to exist until God starts dwelling in us!  God must be our home and abiding place.  He is the only certainty that exists!  (Psalm 90:3-6).

Jesus, our Lord, came to show us the Father (John 14:6).  He taught us how the Father is and why we must be in His likeness.  Jesus came to earth to help us find the Father, live in His presence, and become like Him.  Jesus came to show us how to yearn to live in His Truth, Grace, provisions, and likeness.  So we must reflect on our journey here on earth and what God demands of us.  Remember that God will satisfy us IF we love and obey Him. The choice is simple: are we in a funeral march, or are we going home to the heavenly Father? The answer to that question will determine our joy quota in life.  Do we fathom that life is limited in length?  (Psalm 90:5-10).   Our lives have limitations, and one of them is length.  We may live seventy or 90 years, but that is all!  

When we compare our lives to eternity, we find out that life is short.  Thus we must ask God to help us count our days with a heart of wisdom to make the best of our time here on earth (Psalm 90:12).  Indeed, this world is not our home, but God is.  We don’t know what tomorrow might bring.  We cannot claim ownership of anything, nor do we have any control over time.  We must recognize these truths to live wisely in anticipation of eternity.  Those who ignore these truths are foolish and have no purpose in life.  Their end is destruction and a life separated from God eternally.  

Sin brings sorrow to life, but when we make God our refuge, destruction, disease, and even the explosion of our universe cannot harm us. Grace and Truth came through Jesus (John 1:17).  Those who love and obey God will be His recipients of Grace.  But those who rebel against Him will be judged by God’s righteousness.  The Truth of the Gospel is that Jesus left the Godhead, choosing to leave eternity to be our Savior.  He chose to become time-bound to bring us to heaven, for only the eternal God can impart the eternal life that man craves.  But man must hide himself in God to find His love and timelessness.  Therefore today is the day of salvation!

God does not see the length of our years but our quality of life.  He does not focus on time (Ps. 90:4).  He does not see our faces but our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).  God is seeking those who have a pure and righteous heart so that they can become like Him (2 Chron. 16:9).  The heart is what God sees, for the heart is the mainspring of life.  God wants to know our hearts’ motives and intentions.  He also looks at our spiritual accomplishments and ambitions.  God wants our complete devotion.  He wants an attitude of victory despite our fears.  He looks at our hearts to see our faithfulness and trust in His promises as we move into tomorrow.  

God saves us through His Grace and our obedient faith to Him.  He blesses us according to our works, our quality of life, our hearts’ purity, our spiritual aspirations, not our years, our beautiful faces, and our earthly ambitions. God knows us intimately, and nothing gets past God’s observation, not even our secret sins.  God is the source of our satisfaction, joy, and gladness, so we must always serve Him faithfully.  Let us be compelled to always seek God’s favor in all that we do or say.

Psalm 90 is about the power of God and His patience. And though at times God chastises us, He is often patient and longsuffering with us. He is patient (longsuffering) because He loves us and does not count time the way we do. He is never rushed or in a hurry as we are.  

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”  (2 Peter 3:8-9).

God’s concept of time is beyond our limitations, for time constraints do not bind Him. Our lives are measured by minutes, days, or years. When God created all things, He announced that the morning and the evening were the first day and then the second. Although He gave us time measures as part of the creation, He is not bound by them.  What a blessing this is! God is patient with us. Even when we want to give up on ourselves or others, God is willing to give us time to get things right in our lives so that we may have a dwelling place and be in fellowship with Him.  

May we never take for granted God’s patience but rather seek Him and choose to be in His likeness until He calls us home.   May we always be grateful for His lovingkindness and patience toward us.  May we slow down our lives and learn to count our days with a heart of wisdom, learning to be patient.  May we enjoy each day God has given us and not worry about tomorrow.  May we always walk in the favor of God so that our deeds may glorify Him.  May we always make our time count (work, family, friends, pursuits, sleep, rest, worship, and prayer), for our time here on earth is limited.  May we always redeem the time, knowing that our time is limited and God will hold us accountable for the time He has given us.  May we make the most of every opportunity (Eccl. 9:10; Eph. 5:16), for time is a limited resource.  May we receive every moment, every minute as a gift from God, and live in the present, not yesterday or tomorrow.  Finally, may we always remember that our days are numbered, so we must manage our time well.  The days are evil, so we must be careful how we live, making our time count, both now and eternity. 

“Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’  15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.’”  (Ephesians 5:8-17)

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