Teach Us To Number Our Days

Teach Us To Number Our Days
Psalm 90:1-17
Rev Raymond Ho

Introduction
This is the third Sunday of the new year 2008.  The transition of the year 2007 to 2008 was smooth-going.  It was less excited and caused less anxiety compared to the year we ushered into the year 2000, where there was a great concern of being infested with the Y2K bug.

Remember 7 years ago before the turn of the new millennium many people (including Christians) in the world were living in fear.  Some wondered whether they could survive or go into that “new” year alive!  Others thought the world would come to an end!
Even a Christian article on Y2K chaos/bug predicted that the new millennium would bring chaos to the world. For example, the Banking system, telecommunication, transportation(plane), power supply. Some advices given to help people face the millennium problem were to:

Draw out all money from the bank (Buy gold bar instead of keeping cash)
Invest in a generator (in case of power failure)
Store up petrol, water and food (for at least 3 months)
Some Christian preachers warned of:
Nuclear warfare (from Russia and N. Korea)
Plane crash (computer system were not Y2K compliant)
Collapse of world economy (IMF & UN will play a major role in controlling the world - Anti-Christ will appear).
The 2nd coming of Christ would be imminent and the last days were near! There was fear among non-Christians (many repented) and Christians (many became more committed).
Michael Jackson employed 20 Y2K experts for US$50,000 each (total One million US Dollars) to help him manage his life and assets.
Have we forgotten those anxiety and fear we had to go through?  Thank God, nothing serious actually happened at the turn of that new millennium!
Since then, every year seems to be smooth sailing.  Not much of the fear that the world is going to end. But the fact is that we are one year closer to the end of our earthly pilgrimage.  That is, 1 year less of our lives on earth.  We need to be reminded of the brevity of time and of the importance of being at our best at all times. Time is given to us to be used in God’s service.
It is true as a wise thinker said; “We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial.”
Time is precious.  Time is short.  Time is passing.  Time is uncertain.  Time is irrevocable when gone.  Time is that for which we are accountable.
Thomas Fuller said: “He lives long that lives well, and time misspent is not lived but lost.”
As we had just bidden farewell to the year 2007 which has just passed, we need to recognize a number of things.
The brevity of time
The swiftness of life
The certainty of death
The importance of ultimate values
The inevitability of years slipping away
During the last 7 years, many lives were lost unexpectedly.
Remember 911 (Sept. 11, 2001) 2 planes were hijacked by the terrorists to crash into the twin tower in New York.
The Bali bombing (Oct. 12, 2002) where many Australian tourists were killed.
Bombings at Hilton Hotel in Jakarta, Australian embassy in Jakarta, Southern Thailand  (2003-2004)
Tsunami Tidal waves (Dec. 26, 2004) in Medan, Sri Lanka, Southern Thailand, Penang, etc)
Earth quakes, floods, bush fires that killed hundreds and thousands of people unexpectedly.
We need to turn to God and say a prayer like Moses did in Psalm 90:12 – “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  Ask God to give us wisdom to make full use of our time on earth!

Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses, a man of God.  A great leader who has known the Almighty God as a friend – He has seen God face to face!
Psalm 90 is a reflection of the brevity and uncertainty of life.  It talks about man’s sin and suffering and the wrath of God against man!  Indeed this is a sad psalm.
The Amplified Bible’s footnote on this passage suggests that Moses is reflecting on God’s wrath against Israel who refused to claim the land He wanted to give to them.  After He sent the spies in, ten of them came back with a poor report saying, “We cannot defeat these people, they are giants.”  And, only Caleb and Joshua came back with a good report, and said, “We can take them! Let us go!”  And, they nearly got stoned!  The result of all that was Joshua and Caleb got into the land but everybody else 20 years and above had to die in the wilderness.

Moses started this Psalm 90 by saying, “God is Eternal.  God is Sovereign.  God has our destiny in control.
The Lord is God (Psa.90:1-2)
v.1 - “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.”
v.2 – “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the
           world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Moses affirms God as “the Lord,” the Creator and Ruler of the universe!  The Lord himself has been the “dwelling place” (our refuge), the oasis of refreshment and encampment for his people for many generations.
Moses expresses the greatness of God’s creation of the world.  The confessional statement “you are God” affirms God’s kingship over creation.  If God is the Lord of our lives, He should rule over our lives!
Before looking downward he looks upward.  Before considering man’s misery he points to God’s majesty.  Only because we look at something infinite can we realize that we are finite.  Only because we are able to see the eternal can we see the limited time that is given us.
God’s Authority Over Man (Psa.90:3-6)
v.3 – “You turn men back to dust,” saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”
v.4 – “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by,
          or like a watch in the night.”
v.5 – “You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass
          of the morning -”
v.6 – “though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and
          withered.”

In comparison with God, man is nothing but “dust” (v.3).  Man is subject to the Eternal God, who alone has power over all his creation, including the life and death of humans.  Man is dust and will return to the dust.  God delivers us to the law of nature, that dust must return to dust.
In regards to time, a thousand years in God’s sight are like “a day” (v.4). God sees time much differently than we do because He is eternal.  He does not see something like a man’s death to be something that cannot be overcome – whether he has to lay in his grave one year, 100, 1000 or several thousand years – Seth 5000 years, Abel has waited almost 6000 years – 5 or 6 days to God!  It does not matter that his bones might be completely disintegrated.  God will raise him up when the time is right.  It will be as if no time has past.  God is not constrained by time.  Not like us for sure.
Even when man may live a thousand years (Methuselah, son of Enoch lived 969 years (Gen.5:27) – in God’s reckoning it is but “a day” (v.4; cf.2 Pet.3:8), or even less, “a watch in the night,”(a four-hour period – Lam.2:19).
In comparison with God’s eternity, man’s brief span of life may be likened to “new grass”(v.5), which shoots up only shortly to be parched(v.6).
Other illustrations to bring home to our hearts the brevity of life are:
Leaf (Isaiah 64:6) – “we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”                   
Mist (James 4:14) – “What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Handbreadth (Psalm 39:5) – “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.  Each man’s life is but a breath.”
God lives forever.  He is from everlasting to everlasting.  He had no beginning, He will have no end.
How overwhelming it could be to think of the short amount time that we do have, compared to he vastness of God!
What Moses does here by introducing this psalm this way is to establish immediately God’s eternity, and His sovereignty.  He wants us to know that these things are never a question, God is.  God always has been.  God always will be.  He controls everything.
Once we understand these things, then we can get on with life.  These are the things we have to start out with believing and knowing to the depth of our being are true.
The time designations “morning” and “evening” (v.6) speak of the brevity of life.
Man looks at his fellow beings as strong; but as far as God is concerned, they may be swept away by the waters of the flood (v.5).   Tsunami Tidal waves! (Rich –poor, Strong-weak, Healthy-sick)
“Each human being is a drop in the giant stream of time.”
Therefore, don’t be proud of ourselves and our achievement.
And what then?

Said the elderly gentleman to a fresh graduate, “Now that you have graduated, what are you going to do?
“Oh,” said the young man, “I shall get a job.”
“And what then?”   “I shall get marry, of course.”
“Yes, what then?”  “I shall have a family, I suppose; work hard, get a better job and with luck – work my way to the top.”
“And what then?”  the old man continued.
“well,” said the young man, “Eventually I suppose I shall retire, after I have made my fortune, I hope!”
“And what then, dear friend?”
The young man, rather puzzled, continued, “I…er…I shall hope to take things a bit easier for a few years, enjoy my hobbies, do some travelling, and perhaps help my grandchildren to get started in life.”
“Yes, and what then?”  “Well, then I suppose I shall die.”
The older man looked closely at the young man again as he asked his final question, “And what then, young man?”  The young man was unable to give the answer!

God’s Wrath (Psa.90:7-10)
v.7 – “We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.”
v.8 – “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your  presence,”
v.9 – “All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.”
v.10 – “The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength,  yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

The Psalmist further develops the distance between God and man.  The Lord is eternal and sovereign, whereas man is weak and dependent.  He explains that man’s weakness and anxiety is an expression of God’s judgment on man.
In contrast, Psalm 145:8 &9 say, “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.  The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”
Yes, the Lord is slow to anger.  But it did not say He will never get angry at all!  We must not test the Lord’s patience by keep sinning against God and having “secret sins.”
The Lord’s “anger” and “wrath” (v.7-9) create a barrier between the Lord and man, as man becomes “terrified” (v.7), becoming more aware of his “iniquities” and “secret sins”(v.8).
The Lord knows all man’s open and hidden sins.
The Psalm is a prayer that God’s people pray at times of adversity and that the prayer underscores God’s rightful indignation (wrath) at the offenses of his people.  They have sinned grievously against him in the desert and continued a history of trouble and sorrow.
When man sins he deserves the full impact of God’s anger.
Moses who met God face to face has still a fiery temper (cannot enter the promised land).
No super-spirituality (each one has our own short-coming).  If we sin, we have to face God’s wrath (King David was punished too!).
Isn’t we have been justified by his blood and there is no condemnation for those who believe in Christ?
Romans 5:9 – “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”
Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
It doesn’t mean we have a license to keep sinning (by being disobedience) against God and having “secret sins” in our lives.
Some Non-Christians said: “Enjoy life first, Trust God only when retired.”
Note: Life is short, Death is sure, Christ the cure!
Some Christians said: “Enjoy life first, Serve God only when retired”
We need to walk in obedience, especially in these evil days.  Man’s life is marked by brevity (“seventy or eighty years”)and by trouble and sorrow (v.10).
Let us recall that our life is short – “seventy or eighty years” – and yet that extra bit often brings infirmity of body, weakness of mind, loss of memory.  Some may survive a bit longer with the help of the anti-aging supplements.
A 90 year old man (from Singapore) became a blessing by donating a 2-storey shop lot in Bintan Island to a bible seminary.  How many of us can live until 90 years old?
The saddest thing is to see people dying without knowing God and serving Him!
How Do We Respond To God’s Wrath (Psa.90:11-12)
v.11 – “Who knows the power of your anger?  For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.”
v.12 – “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

The greatness of God’s wrath should evoke fear, and that fear should commensurate (measure equally) with God’s wrath (v.11).  Many Christians take sins for granted – no fear of God!
Though no one knows how God’s full anger will affect human existence, those who fear the Lord are more aware of the fierceness of his anger.
Moses prays for “a heart of wisdom”(v.12).  Since no one “knows”(v.11) how great God’s rage may be, we must be receptive to divine revelation (instruction): “teach us”(v.12).  Moses is saying that God has to train us to have a Godly perspective on our remaining time!  We have only got so much time, and we have only got so much to work with, and so we must divide it out properly, so that we have what we need to finish up the job.
Thomas Chalmers was a great mathematician and a scientist.  When he was converted somebody said to him: “What about the mathematics now?”  He was busy preparing sermons all the time and he saw something far more important; it was the expulsive power of a new affection, the desire to save souls.  “Oh,” he said, “my friend, in my unconverted days I forgot two things: the magnitude of eternity and the shortness of life – these are the two great mathematical factors which I now see to be important.”

Make full use of the remaining time in our lives
-Make our lives count for God
John Calvin – He died in his fifties.  He didn’t reach sixty; he was about fifty-six years of age.  When we go to a theological library, the books he wrote would go from on end of our arm to the other, like that – over sixty books.