Psalm 90:
“From Everlasting to Everlasting, You Are God”
“Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world.”
Moses wrote this psalm as a prayer. In it, he exalts God’s eternal nature and emphasizes man’s various weaknesses. Moses’ life was characterized by great strength, both physically and spiritually. The Holy Bible says this about him at the time of his death, “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated” (Deuteronomy 34:7). On a spiritual level, we have this note about him, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). All of the impressive traits of human beings throughout history cannot even begin to compare with the God Who is from everlasting to everlasting.
That is the message of Psalm 90.
Please read the poem as a unit, and then study its message with me:
I. ETERNITY AND GOD (90:1,2).
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, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are
God.
II. TIME AND GOD (90:3-6).
You turn man to destruction, And say, "Return, O children of men."
For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is
past, And like a watch in the night.
You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the
morning they are like grass which grows up:
In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is
cut down and withers.
III. LIFE AND GOD (90:7-12).
For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are
terrified.
You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light
of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We
finish our years like a sigh.
The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength
they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it
is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For
as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
IV. BLESSINGS AND GOD (90:13-17).
Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants.
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be
glad all our days!
Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children.
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish
the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.
(NKJV)
Let us now learn something from every verse of the psalm. Keep in mind that Moses, the author, had a lifetime of experiences with the One Whose name is “I AM THAT I AM.” The words of such a poet should be exceedingly meaningful to every reverent soul who reads Psalm 90.
Verse 1: The man who had been with Jehovah-Nissi from the burning
bush to “mount Pisgah’s lofty heights” knows that his readers ought to
dwell with Him, too.
Verse 2: He is eternal; therefore He is God. He is eternal,
and nothing else is.
Verse 3: The mortality of the human race with regard to the flesh
is all around us. “Return” is said to refer to the returning to dust
(Genesis 3:19). It may also be a call to return to God. Either
way, it is another reminder that the flesh does not have the answers.
Verse 4: One of the greatest lessons for us to learn is that
we ought to view time as God wants us to view it. We are so bound
by the concept of time that we waste most of it trying to save, extend,
or give it “quality.” The Lord says that we ought to SPEND it preparing
for eternity (2 Peter 3:9-14).
Verse 5: Two pictures of the fragility of life are presented.
In the first, “a single word in the Hebrew suffices to draw the picture.
Man is compared to a building swept away by a sudden burst of rain…” (Kirkpatrick,
p. 550). In the second, we are compared to some of the short-lived
grasses of Palestine.
Verse 6: He completes his lesson about the quick fading grasses.
But the same thing is also true of evildoers, so let us remain faithful
(Psalm 37:1,2).
Verse 7: The emphasis changes from “time and God” to “life and
God.” In light of the truth about life, we ought to learn the lessons
in verses 7-12. Verse 7 begins the thought with a statement about
the power of the anger of God. It consumes, therefore it ought to
terrify us. The wrath of God is a fact—a fact that ought to lead
to frequent self-examination.
Verse 8: This verse is the proof that we ought to be concerned
about the fury of God. Our sins are all before Him. And in
His presence, they are all in the light, clearly understood by Him and
out of their hiding places.
Verse 9: The sobering challenge to consider life in view of God
continues. God’s wrath, as His love, is ever-present. He will
dispense His love and His wrath exactly as He should. Our lives,
which are as brief as a “sigh” (Hebrew, “meditation, thought”), are too
short to waste.
Verse 10: The man who wrote this lived to the “ripe old age”
of 120! He said, 3500 years ago, that people live to be about 70
or 80! All the efforts that men have made to change this have accomplished
exactly nothing since Moses wrote it!! If we spent even a fraction
of the time, knowledge, money, and energy getting ready to die that we
have spent on attempting to avoid death… And so, in our ignorance,
we still cry, “Alas, alas, we must die.”
Verse 11: There is no characteristic of God that can be completely
understood by any man. We can, however, easily grasp the revealed
truth about Him in order to avoid His anger and live in His mercies.
If it is true that His love is far greater than “tongue or pen can ever
tell,” it is also true of His wrath.
Verse 12: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a
heart of wisdom.”
Verse 13: The last section, “Blessings and God”, begins here.
Men were called to “return” in verse 3. God is called to “return”
now. It is because His servants need “compassion.” The King
James Version has “repent thee.” It is a word that refers to having
pity on someone else’s condition.
Verse 14: The claim is that they need God’s mercy. They
had always needed it, but now they were recognizing that need. And
they knew that the reception of His mercy would be the ground of their
rejoicing and gladness.
Verse 15: What is it that they want? They want the days
of their joy to be the same in number as the days of their “evil.”
Let us say, for example, that those who lived and died in their unbelief
during the wilderness wanderings were to repent and receive 40 years of
joy. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Well, yes, and no; for do
you not see that God offers much more than this for those who repent?
Their request is actually a very humble one, but God’s grace offers much
more. Let us do the obeying—and let Him decide about the blessing!
Verse 16: Moses desires that the wonderful ways of God will be
known by His generation and the one to follow (Numbers 14:31). The
Hebrew text has the idea that it would be good for the works of God to
“abide upon the children.”
Verse 17: As it should, the credit and glory are given to God.
The glory of God was evident in the life of Moses in almost every event
of his 120 years. When Moses did not give God the glory, the story
turned ugly. When he turned back to Jehovah, the glory of God came
into view again. Let us learn this—now.
What a great poem! What a wonderful God! What a short life!
What are you going to do with it?
— Skip Andrews
Next Week:
Psalm 91:
Jehovah: the Refuge for the Godly
Listen to our Sunday services on the Web.
Just go to
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SICK LIST:
Greg Davis has pneumonia. Glenda Rodney and Lewis O’Neal were ill
last week. Wayne Kendrick’s brother, Gene, has prostate cancer.
Stanley Crews, the minister at Williamston, South Carolina, has had two
brain surgeries and is in critical condition. Betty Coleman, Lucy
Jerrold’s sister, is undergoing cancer treatment. Electa Wilson is
at Gwinnett Extended Care. Let’s remember those who are ill and their
families in our prayers.
PLANTATION SOUTH: Group 2 is in charge of the services today at 1:30.
COVERED DISH DINNER: There will be a covered dish dinner
Sunday, August 12, following morning services. Group 3 will host.
FOR THE RECORD:
AM Class
123
AM Worship
138
PM Worship
104
Wednesday Class 123
Contribution $3871
BRIDAL SHOWER:
There will be a salad luncheon/bridal shower honoring Tish Callender Sunday,
August 26, immediately following morning worship. All the ladies
of the congregation are invited to attend. Tish is registered at
Target, Rich’s, and Service Merchandise.
BACK PEWS FOR OUR VISITORS: The elders are asking our members to leave the center two back pews for our visitors who may arrive late. Your cooperation is appreciated.
OPEN HOUSE: The elders at Duluth and the staff of Truth for the World invite you to an open house to tour their new building Sunday, August 12, from two o’clock until four o’clock.
VOLUME 3:17 AUGUST 12, 2001