Majesty, Mortality, Ministry | Psalms 90 | Dr. Brian Lee

Good evening. It's always a joy, of course, to be here together on Friday nights to worship, to sing praises unto the Lord, and to see one another. So it's a joy again tonight. And I would would love to pray once more as we look at God's word together. So let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for gathering us again on another Friday night. It's a joy to be in your house. It's a joy to sing and worship you and to be together as your people. Lord, we ask now as we look at your word that you would cause us to be stirred again, stirred again at your word. May we tremble at your word.

May we be changed by your word again. We need you, and we ask that your Holy Spirit would lead us in our whole time tonight. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. The Psalms.

It's often called the songbook of the Bible, especially with its musical connections and instructions. And it's a book divided into five sections, five books which represents the Torah, the law, which we call the Pentateuch. This is a beautiful picture today as the church, sings songs rooted in scripture. It's a call for us to sing songs rooted in God's word. But the book of Psalms is also considered a book of prayer.

And throughout the Bible, wherever singing or songs are mentioned, prayer is always by its side. And we think of examples like Paul and Silas in Acts 16, when they both prayed and sang that night to the Lord from prison, and many other many other accounts in both Old Testament and New, which teaches us that even as we sang tonight and every time we meet together to sing, that it must be rooted in a life of prayer, a ministry of prayer, both as a local body and in our lives as we commune with the Lord regularly, as we walk closely with him. And for our bible study tonight, we will be we will be looking at one specific Psalm that is designated as a prayer. The title we are given to Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses, the man of God. If one one wants to be a man of God or a woman of God, it is not possible without a life of prayer.

Moses was a man of prayer, And there are so many examples, of course, we can turn to, but I want us to point to one example tonight that we're given. In Exodus 34, we are told that Moses came down from Mount Sinai. His face shined, so much so that the people were afraid to come near him. It says in Exodus 34 verse 29, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in his hand, As he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. We have a picture here of how close he was to the word of God as we see Moses carrying the two tablets in his hand, the law near him.

But the one reason we are given for his face shining was because of prayer, talking with God. And it was observable to others, the light of Christ, the fragrance of Christ in him. And I love how the verse tells us that Moses did not know his own face shined, only others did. He was a humble servant of God, very meek, more than all people on the face of the earth, the bible tells us. So with that in mind, let's dive into Psalm 90.

And to help us navigate it, we're going to divide this Psalm into three parts. So verses one through six, we will call it his majesty, God's majesty. Verses seven through 11, we will call it our mortality. And section three, which are verses 12 to the very end, we will call it his ministry. So majesty, mortality, and ministry.

So let's read from verse one of 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. At the head of the Psalm, we see these epic, majestic verses that proclaims God has been present in all generations, even existed before the creation of this world, and will exist forever. He is not bound by time.

He is from everlasting to everlasting. In fact, if you just scan the first six verses that we're outlining, that we are calling the majesty of God, it is all about God. The word you, your, occurs multiple times throughout this first section. It is God centered, God focused. It's a reminder for us that our first posture in life each day is to fix our eyes on the things above, on God himself.

Or with any circumstance in life, our first reflex should be to look upward, to thank God, to praise God, to ask God. I'm so glad the first song we sang tonight was, to see you high and lifted up. That should be our first response always. But how often is our first reflex, is to look inward or to the surrounding circumstances? That is our tendency.

But our first response in our minds and hearts should be given first to the Lord always. Beyond that, just verse one alone is packed with truths that we should be in awe of. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. From the Garden of Eden, to the covenants that we see in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David, to the wilderness journey of the tabernacle and tent of meeting, ultimately to the building of the temple, the rebuilding of the temple, to Christ himself who dwelt and tabernacled among us, and to those who place their faith now in Christ, as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, God himself, and to a future time that is not yet when those in Christ will see him face to face and will dwell with him forever. This first verse hits hard, the scope of it, the majesty of it.

God is a majestic god, awe inspiring. He is awesome. But take a look carefully again at the first verse. In the midst of seeing how majestic our God is, we see how personal he is. Notice how Moses did not write, Lord, the tabernacle has been our dwelling place.

Or he didn't write, Lord, Mount Sinai has been our dwelling place. No. You have been our dwelling place. The person of God. Our majestic God is also a personal God to you and me.

And we must view our god for who he is, his whole character. We saw it a few Sundays ago here in the book of Revelation, did we not? In Revelation one, when we're shown Christ's physical attributes, in his glory, the fiery eyes, the feet of burnished bronze, his voice, majestic. But we saw how Christ put his hand on John as well. Loving, kind, and compassionate, personal.

Take a look at verse two, another majestic verse about who God is, this time as creator of the world. I find it curious, and perhaps you do as well, that out of all the ways that Moses could have written about the creation of the world, he writes about mountains. We know that Moses knew something about mountains, particularly Mount Sinai, or much happened in his life and calling. Moses met with God on Mount Sinai, or Horeb, as it is called in Exodus three, the famous story of God in the form of a burning bush. And we are told in that chapter that Horeb or Mount Sinai is called the mountain of God.

The same mountain Moses came down where his face shine bright after meeting with him. So what does this have to do with the verse we're looking at in Psalm 90 verse two? Well, I believe the main point here is that, yes, before any mountain was on earth, God existed. He was there from the beginning. But it also points to us how we are to ascend in our thoughts and look upward to God.

Again, his majesty, when we seek him to look upward in the posture of our hearts and minds. But even more than that, I believe that out of all the things that Moses could have mentioned here, the fact that he mentions mountains points us to the significance of mountains as a geographic location in the Bible. Whether it be Sinai, whether it be Christ himself, we are told that the end of this age, he will land on the Mount Of Olives. And the Mount Of Olives is where he told his disciples very patiently and very compassionately what the signs of his coming will be. I want us to look briefly at a passage regarding this.

So let's turn briefly to Isaiah chapter two that talks about Christ's return, where it says that Zion or Jerusalem will be established as the highest of mountains. Let's read Isaiah two together starting in verse one. The word that Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of mountains and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it. And many peoples shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.

For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. In Psalm 90, it says, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the Earth and the world. Moses is not just referring to the Earth, the land, but to the world, the peoples that dwell there within. He's talking about the nations by referencing both the Earth and the world. This is a reminder for us that God not only created this planet and the land and the waters, but he is the one who formed the nations and the peoples.

Even here, we have a glimpse of both the Jew and Gentile in god's redemptive plans in history, his story, not only for the Jewish people, but for all the peoples here in Psalm 90 verse two. Verse three. You return man to dust and say return, oh children of man. The obvious connection here is that this is a reference to the consequence of original sin, when God tells Adam, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. But the question I had in looking at this verse is why not just you return man to dust and then full stop.

Moses follows this up by what seems to be a quote from God. As if he heard God's voice saying, return, oh, children of men. And we know it is quite possible that Moses heard these words spoken audibly from God, for God spoke to Moses numerous times. Whether God spoke these specific words here is we don't know for sure. But I think the most important point here is that God again is the focus of this verse.

It is God who returns us back to dust. He is in control. He is sovereign. I remember a sermon a while back, when pastor Daniel mentioned that God knows both the day of our birth and the day of our funeral all at the same time. It is God who is in control and returns us back to dust.

Our lives are in his hands, which in many ways should give us peace, comfort, no fear of death, if, and it's conditional, if we know that we are his, our salvation secure in Christ. And on the heels of this past Sunday, I cannot help but think of the verse that connects to the promise of the resurrection. That while God returns man to dust, those in Christ will rise from the death once more. We looked at Isaiah twenty six twenty nine or verse 19 this past Sunday, but it is worth reading again here. In Isaiah twenty six nineteen, it says, your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise.

You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy. For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. And I think the fact that God's words are in quotations in Psalm 90 verse three speaks again to his personal nature in the midst of his majesty. He speaks directly to us today. Perhaps not in an audible voice, but through every book, every verse of his word, which is his majestic and personal voice.

Okay. Let's look now at the next three verses together of Psalm 90 verses four through six. 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. We see here within these three verses different descriptions, pictures of how God views time. Like yesterday, like a watch in the night, like a flood, like a dream, like grass. And notice how in verse four that God has one thousand years in his sight, in one view.

Of course, he sees all of time. He transcends time. But we see here that God, to God, a millennium is like one day. This recalls a well known reference in the bible that many of us know of that talks about how to the Lord, one day is as one thousand years. Let's turn briefly there, not only to connect it with Psalm 90, but to see the context in which this is said.

Second Peter chapter three, starting in verse eight. 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. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. As awesome as it is to think and know that God sees and views one thousand years as one day, we see Peter here do so in the context of the promised return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But beyond that, take a look at the context. While the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise of his coming again, he is slow and patient with us. He does not want anyone to perish, but that all should repent and believe on his name. And I think the phrase at the end of Psalm 90 verse four where it says, for a thousand years is like a watch in the night, can be viewed as a picture of Christ's second coming, where we are told in this passage from second Peter three and others that his coming will be like a thief in the night. We are to keep watch.

Stay awake, be sober minded and alert as we wait upon that day. Also, I can't help but think that God not only views a thousand years as one day as a watch in the night, but he watches over us each night. Psalm three verse five says this, I lay down and slept. I woke again, for you sustained me. I often think of this verse when I wake up in the morning on my bed.

Lord, thank you for giving me another day, breath in my lungs. God in his provision allows us to go to sleep each night. In his provision, he allows us to wake up the next morning as he allows. He watches over us as a watch in the night. He is sovereign.

He not only holds redemptive history in his hands, he has us in his hands. He cop he keeps watch over you and me. Again, majestic and personal. Alright. Let's go to the next verse, Psalm 90 verse five.

It says, God sweeps away ears like a flood. They are like a dream. Like a flood. What wonders if Moses was thinking of the flood during the days of Noah when he wrote this? And I think it's quite possible because we are told that Moses was the writer, the penitict, it's called the law of Moses after all.

But while we're not certain when Moses wrote Psalm 90, it is very likely that he wrote it towards the latter part of his life, sometime later in the wilderness journey. And if that is the case, it is quite possible that the thought of another flood came to his mind. We all remember how the waters parted the Red Sea on that day God provided and delivered his people through Moses, when he gave a safe passageway on the dry land and Israelites crossed to the other side. And while the parting flood saved one people, it also killed another as the flood of waters came back and destroyed Pharaoh and his army and drowned them in the waters. You see, just like in the days of Noah, when we are told according to the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, that people were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark, unaware until the flood came and swept them all away.

I believe Psalm 90 verse five also points us to the day of the Lord's return, especially in the context of verse four we looked at as a watch in the night. And as Moses gives us these analogies and pictures of our passing days and years, he gives us the picture of grass. Verse five and six from Psalm 90. Like grass that is renewed in the morning. In the morning, it flourishes and is renewed.

In the evening, it fades and withers. This points us to the words of Peter again, where this time in first Peter chapter one verse 24 it says, all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Peter here gives us a quote from Isaiah 40 in context of being saved, being born again. Not of a perishable seed, but of imperishable seed through the living and abiding word of God, which is the previous verse of that passage.

It is the word of the Lord that will remain forever. And we are to be born again with that imperishable seed that through the living and abiding word of God. And I love how Moses wrote this before Isaiah did, before Peter did, because perhaps Moses thought of that perishable seed in the wilderness called manna that the Lord gave his people, and how it would flourish and be renewed each morning. But by the evening, if it was not gathered or if it was left, it would spoil and rot. Yes.

Moses is writing about our earthly lives here. As it fades and withers, we return back to dust in the evening. But I believe there's something deeper here. He is pointing us to the word of God, to the hidden manna that Christ wants to offer us, which we we are to hunger for, to eat of daily before the day fades and withers into evening. And perhaps this is even a passage about, finding Christ in the youth in the morning of one's life before the grass fades and withers.

So the first six verse the first six verses really point to the majesty of God. He is everlasting to everlasting. He transcends time where thousand years are in his sight. But in the midst of this, we see a very personal God who calls us to himself to know him, to dwell with him, and to know his word and the rich blessings that come from this awesome God. Alright.

Let's look at the second part of Psalm 90 together now. We're gonna call this the mortality of man. And we'll look at verses seven through 11 together as a whole. But first notice something. In verse seven, it references God's anger and his wrath, and the same with verse 11.

It highlights God's anger and his wrath. You can say in some ways that this section is bookended by God's anger and his wrath. So verses seven and eight says this, for we are brought to an end by your anger, and by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. It's worth noting here that God's anger is mentioned twice, his wrath three times within this section.

So I want us to ask a few questions as we navigate this part of the Psalm together. Alright. First question, what causes the Lord to be angry and for his wrath to be brought upon us? It's quite simple because verse eight tells us, his anger and wrath are referenced in the context of our iniquities and sins in his presence. It says the Lord not only knows of our sins, he sets our iniquities before him.

He stations them. He fixes them within his sight. And I don't know how often you think of this, but the bible talks about how high our sins pile up. We are told that Ezra, this man of God who loved God's word, when he grieved and prayed over the sins of God's people, it says in Ezra nine verse six, that as he fell on his knees and spread out his hands to the Lord, he prayed the following. Oh my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God.

For our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. And David said something similar in Psalm 34 Psalm 38 verse four. He says there that my inequities have gone over my head. Like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. Indeed, the psalmist in Psalm one thirty is right when in verse three it says, if you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who could stand?

If we were to count our sins, it would bury us. It does bury us all the way to the grave. Our sins, both seen and unseen, are a heap over our heads. But thank God, we even sang about it throughout, our time of singing. Thank God for the next verse in Psalm one thirty verse four.

But with you, there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul waits, and in his word, I hope. The mountain of sins in our lives have been canceled for those who have put their faith in Jesus. And for those who are not born again, they face a destiny of eternal anger and wrath and condemnation and suffering in hell and the second death that the bible talks about.

But also for us who are saved, at any point our sin can grieve the Lord and provoke him to his anger. And notice how here in Psalm 90, it mentions our secret sins. And I think secret sins here can mean a couple of different things. For one, sins that we know of in our lives, but perhaps no one else knows of. They're hidden from others.

But secret sins can also mean the ones we ourselves are not aware of, especially those that are within our minds and in our hearts that grieve the Lord, The sins in our very thoughts and motives of our heart. This is where we do have to bring them regularly before God's word, before God in prayer in the light of his presence. I mean, we see this in the Old Testament, do we not? We see, leprosy and its various stages. We are told that the person had to keep bringing them to the priest repeatedly, time and time again, no matter what stage of leprosy, which is a picture of sin.

And we too, we have to continually bring ourselves to the great high priest so that, he examines us, the motives of our hearts, our minds continually. I can testify, and I'm sure many of us can, that, in our meetings here, there have been times where, we were not aware of things in us, and yet, something from a message, a sermon, something from a song, maybe even a conversation that we had with one another shed light on something in us that convicted us that we needed to get right before the Lord. So may we always be honest before the Lord and before one another. Okay. Here's another question about this section from Psalm 90.

Maybe a silly question, but I think it's worth asking. Is there really such a thing as God's anger and his wrath? And I say it's a silly question because, yes, of course, we know there is such a thing. But there are many today who do not consider this or acknowledge it, let alone preach or teach about it. And again, if we are to look at God and his whole character in mind with honesty and truth, we need to acknowledge his wrath and his anger.

I think I heard once of a pastor who read through the bible one year, and he decided to highlight every verse in the bible that reference God's anger and wrath, and by the end of the year it was filled from beginning to end with highlights. Our God is a jealous God. His name is jealous, in fact, capital j, we are told. He is a God that can be provoked to anger and wrath. Alright.

Another question here. What is the difference between anger and wrath? Especially god's anger and god's wrath. Well, simply put, I think anger refers to an emotion, God's emotion, and he is a God who feels emotion. And our prayer should always be that our emotions line up with his.

And if we are ever to be angry, that it is a holy indignation that is the heart of God and not an unrighteous anger that is easy to surface in our flesh. But whereas God's anger speaks of his emotion, his wrath speaks of his action. In many cases, an act of judgment. Alright. I think this is the last question for this section.

Did Moses know and witness God's anger and his wrath during his lifetime? Absolutely. Many times over, especially during the wilderness journey. And notice what it was that provoked god to his anger and wrath. We are told in Deuteronomy nine verses seven and eight, where it says the following, remember and do not forget how you provoked your lord provoked the lord your god to wrath in the wilderness.

From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the lord. Even at Horeb, you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. So we see clearly it is our rebellion as God's people that can provoke the Lord to wrath and anger. And what's interesting here is that it says, even at Horeb. What does that tell us?

Even at Mount Sinai where God was present, where the people were gathered to hear from God, even there his anger and wrath was made known because of the rebellion of the people. One thinks of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts five as a New Testament example of this. Our God does not change. He is the same God today, and I mean, it it should cause us to consider his anger and wrath. I mean, verse 11 here in this section, this section ends with a question, who considers the power of his anger and his wrath?

I think we need to consider it that we every time we come here to worship that, we wanna be right before God, as gracious and as loving as our God is. I wanna give one more example before we go to the final section. We have an example of how, Aaron, we're told that he was afraid of anger, but anger not of God, but anger of man. So when the building of the golden Calf happened, Aaron actually declared that as a day of worship unto the Lord. And in Exodus 32 verse 21, it says this, Moses said to Aaron, what did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?

And Aaron said, let not the anger of my Lord burn hot. You know the people that they are set on evil. And you can see from the verse, Aaron's not talking about the Lord God. He's talking about, a human being, Lord, lowercase l. I mean, Aaron was more concerned about the anger of a family member, Moses, his brother.

More concerned about potential anger from him and the people than the anger of a holy God. And part of walking in the fear of the Lord is being aware that we have a jealous God who can be provoked to anger and wrath. Look at verse 11 once more. Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you? There seems to be a connection between the fear of the lord and considering the power of his anger and the power of his wrath.

And the bible is amazing. Compare Aaron's disposition in this moment to what we are told about Moses in Hebrews 12 verse 26. It says this, he, Moses, considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, For he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured a seeing him who is invisible. Moses was far more concerned about angering a holy God than angering Pharaoh, a powerful earthly king.

Fear the Lord versus fear of man. So what could this look like for us? Perhaps it means standing up for the truth, even though it might offend or anger a family member, or even a colleague, or boss, or a close friend. And again, perhaps it means that every time we walk into this building in Norwich, Illinois to worship the Lord, to serve him, That we are far more concerned about how we are to please him and honor him much more than, being concerned of what others might think of us as we serve him. We wanna please him.

We do not wanna anger our kind and loving master. So I'm just gonna read the the last three verses that close out this section. So verses nine through 11. 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? It's amazing how accurate and honest the bible is in verse 10 about our lives being about 70 or 80. And we know it's not uncommon for people today in year 2025 to live in their into their nineties, and even we have centenarians, especially in different parts of the world.

But the average life expectancy on earth today is about 72 years old. And the bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I think this passage here takes us back to original sin again, where it talks about the span of our lives being nothing but toil and trouble. Perhaps a reference to the pain that is a consequence of sin outlined to Adam and Eve in Genesis three. And, there are a number of young people I see in the room today, and regardless of how young or old you are, I think we can all testify to this.

That the longer you live, the more pain, toil, and trouble one experiences, whether it's with our bodies, our physical bodies as we age or have illnesses, or in our relationships with others, or the world around us, as we see evil and the compromise around us. But what does it mean that all our days pass away under his wrath? Well, all means all, I think. Does it mean today, 04/25/2025, is passing away under God's wrath? Yes.

I think that's what it means. I believe so. Because we all have an expiration date to our earthly lives. Our earthly lives will expire because of original sin, because of our sin. And each day of our lives, the very breath in our lungs for both the saved and unsaved is an act of mercy from God.

We deserve his wrath each day. But he still gives us breath. He gives us provision, life. Again, patient with all, not wanting anyone to perish, but that everyone would come to repentance. And the famous passage from Lamentations three verse 22 comes to mind here.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. So his majesty, our mortality, and now we come to the final section of Psalm 90, which we will call ministry.

Look at the first word of this final section in verse 12. The word is so. I believe this is the primary hinge in which the entire Psalm rests upon. Everything we have looked at up to this point rests upon so, therefore, and everything after it is a response to the first 11 verses. So verse 12 says, so teach us.

And goodness, I love the fact that, pastor Mark started us with, the passage from an earlier Psalm that talks about to teach us. Lord, teach us. Out of all the things Moses could have said here, he says to the Lord, teach us. I mean, he could have said, show us. He could have said lead us, protect us.

But the first thing Moses writes here is teach us. And one can argue many reasons why that is, but I think one is that it reminds us who we are in light of who God is. His majesty, our mortality, We are fallen creatures that need to be taught over and over and over again, for we are a forgetful people. We have much to learn. And we all know this, how many times did Moses witness the people of God forgetting God's promises?

Forgetting how God had saved them and provided for them over and over again, to the point that they grumbled and rebelled time and time again. And we are not much different. They, like us, have to be taught, so teach us. This is a reminder for you and me that we are to be taught repeatedly. And I don't know about you, it only takes me it doesn't even take me twenty four hours or less.

It it to to hear something in a sermon that blessed me, and forget about it. It leaves my mind somehow. We need to be taught over and over again. It's also a reminder for us that we are to have a teachable spirit, especially as we meet here. I mean, we are blessed to be taught the word of God richly every Friday and every Sunday here by our pastors.

Are we not? Do we come in here each time with a humble, teachable spirit to accept the entirety of the word of God? And so Moses asked God to teach us to number our days. What does it mean to number our days? The obvious answer here is, of course, Moses is asking God to make us aware of the limitations of our lives, that we only have a certain number of days.

But it goes beyond that. The Hebrew word here to number means not just to count, but it means to prepare. It means to assign, appoint, ordain. In other words, there ought to be a purpose to each day we live. Lord, teach us what it means to live each day, to number each day with a godly purpose.

And as we live this life, as we do ministry, we are to ordain each day to the purposes of God, to his will, and all that he has given us. And again, that requires us to be taught, to be students, to be taught in the school of Christ. And, as some of you know, I'm a teacher, I'm a professor. Like any good student, they don't just attend class, they are to study each day, put their noses in the books and teach and study for themselves. May we as God's people be such students continuing to learn and be in the book that the Lord may teach us and change us to live until our final breath.

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. And I love how here it talks about the heart. We think of the mind when we think of wisdom, of course. It is said that theology should stir us to doxology, to worship. As we learn the things of God, as we grow in our knowledge of the word, may it stir our hearts to love.

To love God and worship God with greater strength and affection, and to love one another. Verse 13 in Psalm 90 seems to be an interruption in Moses's prayer. He cries out return, oh Lord. And, we're part of a local body called Maranatha. Aramaic word found at the end of first Corinthians, which means come, Lord Jesus.

And from what I understand, that word Maranatha, depending on the context could mean, yes, come Lord Jesus now, but it can also mean the past. Lord Jesus, you've come before, and it can also mean the future. Lord, come again. And I believe Psalm 90 verse 13 here is a a marinof, a cry we find in the old testament. Moses is saying, return oh Lord.

Come Lord now. But he's also acknowledging that the Lord has been with him before. I mean the word return means that. Right? Come back.

You've come before return. Please visit us again. And I wanna make this point here because I think this is in many ways the heart of ministry. Do we have this kind of heart of prayer every time we do ministry? Because we never rest on our past blessings.

Each day is new. We must ask the Lord for a fresh touch from him. Each day, each time we meet, we need him now at every meeting. We need him today. And do you see the desperation in Moses's voice here?

How long, oh lord, have pity on your servants. We too have to be desperate. Desperate for the Lord's presence, for the Holy Spirit in all that we do. This is ministry. I mean, he uses the word servants here a couple of times in this final section, to serve, to minister to the Lord and to one another.

May we be desperate for his presence each time, each day. And I want you to notice something in the final section of Psalm 90. Look at the progression of the language that takes us to the end. So we saw Moses first asks, the Lord teach us to receive something from him. Then the next verse, he's asking, return, oh Lord.

He's asking for the presence of God. Then the very next verse is maybe the most famous verse of this Psalm. It says, satisfy us that we may rejoice and be glad, and this order is no accident. We cannot be satisfied in the things of God without receiving something from him. Teach us.

We cannot be satisfied in the Lord and rejoice without his presence. When Moses says return, oh Lord. And verse 15 confirms that, because Moses asked God to make us glad. It is the Lord who creates joy in us. He's the maker and giver of true joy.

And then look at verse 16. Let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children. And the last verse, let the favor of the Lord God be upon us. I mean, I think you can see it clearly. Right?

The the progression of language here changes from specific requests to God, teach us, return to us, satisfy us, make us, and now at the very end, let natural outflow and outcome to the cries and requests before. And, not that we earn anything. Right? It's all his grace, but we are more likely to receive his presence, his work to be shown to us, his glorious power to be made made known to us and our children. We are more likely to receive all these rich blessings we see in Psalm 90 in ministry when we grow in being taught, when we are in his presence, when we are satisfied with his steadfast love, and when we are living in the joy of the Lord, let the natural result of walking close with the Lord, authentic faith.

And, as we come to a close, I wanna just point out a parallel we see in the New Testament. There's a similar progression of language we see in Colossians three, where we see commandment after commandment. It says, set your mind on the things above, put to death what is earthly in you, put them all away, put on the new self, Put on love. And then the language changes to let. Colossians three verse 15 says, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, Singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Genuine natural outflow of a life consecrated to the Lord. And I wanna close with this. I want us to acknowledge how it is love. Love that is highlighted not just in the Colossians three passage about putting on love, but in Psalm 90.

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. It is God's love that draws us to him. And I know many of us know this, but to know God, to love God is to know and be satisfied with his love for us. For we love because he first loved us.

And there is no greater satisfaction in this life than to know God, to know his love for you and me. I mean, I've and we've heard it here multiple times. I still remember, one of the things that have been taught to us here, to fight sin. One of the keys to fight sin, fight temptation, and to live a victorious life in Christ is to be satisfied in him. Fully satisfied.

We're full from feasting on his word. We're satisfied in his presence. There's no greater thrill and joy. So all the things that, are of this world or sin, that that all fades away, in our sight. And the word Moses uses in Psalm 90 is rejoice.

To be happy again, continual joy that we can have as we continually are satisfied in our God day after day, morning until night. Do you know this kind of satisfaction today, tonight? Alright. I said I was gonna close, but this is the final point here. It says in verse 16 of Psalm 90, it says, let your work be shown to your servants.

And I love that because it reminds us that ministry is God's work. I know we say it's our ministry and there's of course, it is. But ultimately, it's his and we are his servants. It is his work. It belongs to him.

We are merely dust, we are stewards, his servants. And final point, notice how Moses repeats a phrase in the final verse of Psalm 90, and the repeating phrases, establish the work of our hands, which is connected to the work of the Lord. I mean, you can just see it right on the page. You can see and feel Moses's excitement at the end of the Psalm, at the end of his prayer, the hope that he expresses here in the last several words, establish the work of our hands. Yes.

Establish the work of our hands. And I can picture, maybe because I have gray hair too, but I can picture Moses, in his older age excited about ministry, excited about serving God, and excited about the possibility of God's favor and power being manifested in the work of the hands of God's people. Do you get excited, this excited whenever you serve and worship the Lord? There's no greater thrill in life than to worship him and to serve him and to know him. And so may that be true of us brothers and sisters.

As we behold his majesty, as we know our own mortality, and as we do ministry and life together, may we be satisfied with his love. That his work, his power, his favor will establish the work of our hands all the days of our lives. Let's pray. As we have our eyes closed and as we pray, actually, I would love for us to pray Psalm 90 for it is a prayer. And so, we'll pray Psalm 90 together.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, wherever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are god. You return man to dust and say return, oh, 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 and by your wrath, we are dismayed. You set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath, and we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength 80, yet their span is but toil in 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.

Return, oh lord. How long? Have pity on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children. 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. Lord, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for this Psalm. We thank you for your steadfast love. Lord, we ask that you would continue to do something in us. Lord, we ask that you would teach us continually. We want to be joyful in you day after day.

And so, lord, we ask that you would establish the work of our hands. It is your work. We are your servants, and we do love you. And we thank you for your word. In Jesus' name, amen.