The Brevity of Life
Psalm 90:1-12,
Psalm 90, it's the only psalm, I believe, written by Moses. It's really kind of a psalm of sobriety, focuses upon death, not just death, but certainly reminds us of that reality.
This is the first Wednesday of the New Year, and whenever I think of the New Year, at least, from a Psalm perspective, Psalm 90 is the psalm that generally comes to mind.
I think it was the first time I ever preached in front of my mom and dad. It was in Canada about 100 miles away from the Yukon border, and there was an Anglican church my mom and dad were attending. And the Anglican minister asked me to preach. He didn't like what I said after the sermon, he came up and told me, but he asked me to preach. I preached from Psalm 90, and I warned all of them about the brevity of life, and also the whole matter of eternity, were they prepared to meet God in eternity. And it was the first Sunday, I believe, of the New Year and this psalm was the psalm I preached. It's about death.
If you look at verse 3, he takes us right back to the Garden of Eden and the thread of God, You return man to dust. There probably was no one who saw death up close as much as Moses. He saw that generation, the wilderness generation perish in the wilderness. Remember, there were only two of them who end up in the Promised Land; probably up to a million, million and a half people he saw die in that wilderness. And seeing that up close I'm sure it impacted his life, even the reality of death, but also the brevity of life. And he picks up four different metaphors to describe the short life that we live here on Earth. Look at verse 5, “You sweep them away as with a flood.” Then again verse 5, “They are like sleep,” verse 6, “Grass that flourishes and withers,” verse 9, “And their image a sigh or fleeting breath.” Then verse 10, he drops into the whole matter of just a cold statistic of years, 70 years and by reason of strength 80 years. Some really think that the wilderness generation was a demarcation; from that point on, people did not live as long as they did prior to that wilderness generation.
Now, I know death is not a pleasant subject for any of us, and it's because life is a wonderful gift. But you can't read your Bible and escape the reality of death. It pops up everywhere. Go right back to Genesis 2 and Genesis 3, we're all heading towards a grave. And the Bible says it's appointed unto men once to die, and then the judgment. But death can also be a benefit for us in this life. And there are at least three things we learn from Psalm 90.
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 70, or even by reason of strength 80. 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.
Psalm 90, it's the only psalm, I believe, written by Moses. It's really kind of a psalm of sobriety, focuses upon death, not just death, but certainly reminds us of that reality.
This is the first Wednesday of the New Year, and whenever I think of the New Year, at least, from a Psalm perspective, Psalm 90 is the psalm that generally comes to mind.
I think it was the first time I ever preached in front of my mom and dad. It was in Canada about 100 miles away from the Yukon border, and there was an Anglican church my mom and dad were attending. And the Anglican minister asked me to preach. He didn't like what I said after the sermon, he came up and told me, but he asked me to preach. I preached from Psalm 90, and I warned all of them about the brevity of life, and also the whole matter of eternity, were they prepared to meet God in eternity. And it was the first Sunday, I believe, of the New Year and this psalm was the psalm I preached. It's about death.
If you look at verse 3, he takes us right back to the Garden of Eden and the thread of God, You return man to dust. There probably was no one who saw death up close as much as Moses. He saw that generation, the wilderness generation perish in the wilderness. Remember, there were only two of them who end up in the Promised Land; probably up to a million, million and a half people he saw die in that wilderness. And seeing that up close I'm sure it impacted his life, even the reality of death, but also the brevity of life. And he picks up four different metaphors to describe the short life that we live here on Earth. Look at verse 5, “You sweep them away as with a flood.” Then again verse 5, “They are like sleep,” verse 6, “Grass that flourishes and withers,” verse 9, “And their image a sigh or fleeting breath.” Then verse 10, he drops into the whole matter of just a cold statistic of years, 70 years and by reason of strength 80 years. Some really think that the wilderness generation was a demarcation; from that point on, people did not live as long as they did prior to that wilderness generation.
Now, I know death is not a pleasant subject for any of us, and it's because life is a wonderful gift. But you can't read your Bible and escape the reality of death. It pops up everywhere. Go right back to Genesis 2 and Genesis 3, we're all heading towards a grave. And the Bible says it's appointed unto men once to die, and then the judgment. But death can also be a benefit for us in this life. And there are at least three things we learn from Psalm 90.
- God is the one great exception, God doesn't die. Verse 1, God is from everlasting to everlasting, before the mountains were brought forth. He's always been there, and He will always be there.
- Secondly, death is not an ordinary life event. It's a judgment of God. No matter how many people try to beautify it, it's really ugly. Notice in verse 7 and 8, death is linked to sin and God's anger, “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.”
- The third lesson is what I really have already emphasized, the brevity of life or the reality of death. It should cause all of us to live a holy life, or to be wise. Verse 12 again, “So teach us to number our days that we might get a heart of wisdom.” Richard Baxter, one of the Puritans, said,
"It is the duty of the wise to live as dying men."
And what does a wise person look like? Let me give you five things, in terms of if he really applies this to his heart, if he's really living according to wisdom in light of his brevity of life.
So here's the big thing that we can't forget when we think about death as a Christian. We don't look at it through the dark lens of Psalm 90, we can do that, but we look at it through the gospel lens of 1 Corinthians 15, “Death has lost its sting, Christ has conquered death.” And that's why the Apostle Paul could say, “Death is my gain.” I gain, I don't lose when I die. And so, as we face another year, let's pray that God would help us to be wise, to number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom.
- A wise person will prioritize things that are of eternal value, set his mind upon things above.
- A wise person or wisdom seeks to redeem or make the most of our time. Time is precious to the wise man. He doesn't trivialize it, he takes it as precious, more precious than gold or silver.
- Wisdom should give us an urgency to bring the gospel to the world. Richard Baxter again said to preachers, “We are preaching as dying men to dying men.”
- Wisdom should sweeten our love and commitment to Christ. You could say that about the Apostle Paul, his great ambition in life was to know Jesus.
- Wisdom should keep us on our tiptoes, waiting for the day when Jesus comes back again, or when we go home on that dying day, like that thief on the cross.
So here's the big thing that we can't forget when we think about death as a Christian. We don't look at it through the dark lens of Psalm 90, we can do that, but we look at it through the gospel lens of 1 Corinthians 15, “Death has lost its sting, Christ has conquered death.” And that's why the Apostle Paul could say, “Death is my gain.” I gain, I don't lose when I die. And so, as we face another year, let's pray that God would help us to be wise, to number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom.
Posted in Pastor Devotional