4 Beautiful Reminders from Psalm 90

Even Moses, the great leader of the Israelites and a Christ archetype, struggled at times. He led a group of imperfect, fickle, whiney people (sound familiar) around the desert for forty years - not exactly an appealing job description. The trip should have taken around eleven days.

Even though the Lord had supernaturally provided for them time and time again, they continued to whine and complain and even worshipped a golden calf while Moses was meeting with God on Mt. Sinai getting the ten commandments.

In Psalm 90, we hear a prayer of Moses. One that can be prayed daily or for special occasions.

Here are four beautiful reminders from his prayer in the NIV:

God’s Eternal Nature

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (1-2).

Moses starts out acknowledging God has been there forever. He is our everything and without Him we have nothing. He has been there since before the beginning of creation and will always be. His compassion and lovingkindness keep Him loving and providing for an unfaithful and underserving people.

His declaration rings of Psalm 73:25, Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides You (ESV).

Our Sin is Not Hidden

We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence (7-8).

Some of us think we have a secret sin or two - one we have never told another living soul. While our sin may be hidden from others, God knows all. And if you are reaping the consequences as I have, it is rightly so.

God is a God of justice and one day He will make all the wrongs right. In the meantime, He is justified in His righteous anger against our rebellion.

How important it is to take time for regular confession and repentance, remembering Jesus paid the price for our all our sin by dying a horrific death on the cross.

God knows when we confess and repent, we will be forgiven and therefore receive blessed freedom (1 John 1:9)!

Life is Fleeting

*Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (vs. 12)*

Time flies, doesn’t it? I can’t even think about time too much, or I become completely boggled.

Earlier in the psalm Moses reminds us life is fleeting. Like grass it withers and flies away (vs. 6,10). Here he asks God for wisdom to live right moment by moment, making the most of the time He has allotted, never assuming we have one more day.

Work is Good

May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands (vs. 16-17).

Our society has given work a bad name, but our work is to be enjoyable. It can be an act of praise and worship.

Jesus says He and His Father are always at work (John 5:17), God declares work a good thing from the beginning (Genesis 2:15), and Paul tells us in Philippians 2:13 It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (ESV).

God works and because we are created in His image, He gives us the ability to do good works as well.

Here Moses not only asks God to continue to amaze future generations with His marvelous deeds, but to bless the work He has given us.

What helps you make the most of the time and work you are given?