By 
June 1, 2022 represents the half-way mark in an already busy, transitional year for our family. One of my children is moving out of state, while another moves back to Texas. A brand new grandbaby was just born, and another is about to have a driver’s license. Changes are a part of life. I grudgingly accept that. With a family as big as ours, they are inevitable.
June 1 also represents another birthday for me, and they are racking up. While I hate to admit it, I have become one of those people bemoaning the passage of time, confused at the swiftness of that passing and wishing for a reprieve: “Everybody just slow down!”
As I read God’s Word I see Him working His will, disciplining and guiding His people, for His purposes and His glory. But I also find many places in the Bible where people cry out to God, questioning His actions and His timing. I find myself drawn to these passages. Psalm 90 is one of them.
Likely written by Moses, Psalm 90 is set against the final days of God’s chosen people’s wandering. With the hope of the Promised Land in sight the author cries out to the God who is everlasting, and he has a lot on his mind. He begins by acknowledging God’s eternality:
Psalm 90:1-2, ESV
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.
Moses knows that the Lord has been their home forever: before creation He was, and throughout all generations He will be. Moses appropriately follows this truth with the recognition that, in comparison, man’s life is fleeting and transient.
Psalm 90:3-6, ESV
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.
The Lord has all the time in the world. Even the oldest living man was no more than a wispy vapor, briefly flourishing and then quickly gone. Eventually we are returned to dust. Gone!
Psalm 90:7-11, ESV
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 seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
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?
The wrath of God should be acknowledged and feared as we live out our days. His wrath brings death and transience and mars the brief span of our days. Our fragility is further emphasized in that our sinfulness and shortcomings before a Holy God make us fully dependent on His mercy. But God doesn’t leave us there: For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5, ESV).
Psalm 90:12, ESV
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
In light of the potential of God’s wrath, the author eagerly asks God to teach him as he uses the days God has given. Awareness of who we are in relation to God should inform our hearts and minds, bringing wisdom, and effectively changing our attitudes and bringing Jesus-like character to our lives.
Psalm 90:13-16, ESV
Return, O 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.
Moses finishes his song with an appeal to the Lord to turn from His wrath, return to His children with tenderness and grace, and bring the permanent joy of His hesed—loyal love. The Lord is implored to replace the bad times with good, extend blessing to His children’s children, and secure the work of their hands.
Psalm 90 shows us that righteous discipline from our holy Lord, regardless of the shape it takes, leads to His compassion and grace. And while our days may seem to rush by and many of our questions go unanswered, we know that time is held in the loving hands of our Father. Let’s wait for Him, trusting in His goodness and, like Moses, ask:
Psalm 90:17, ESV
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!
O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works (Isaiah 26:12, ESV).
Everlasting Peace.
Nanette Smith
A transplanted Texan, Nanette Smith spent most of her life in western Pennsylvania where she and her husband Tom raised their 6 children. When not homeschooling her children or helping her husband run his construction business, Nanette volunteered with Samaritan’s purse, crisis pregnancy centers, and served as Women’s Ministry Director. In 2013 God moved Nanette and her family to Texas and she attended her first Womenary class in 2016. Currently Nanette works as the Missions Coordinator at Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, TX. When not working or playing with one of her 11 grandchildren, Nanette enjoys reading, writing, photography and baking. 
