Our lives are brief, but God is
eternal (1-6)
In a number of places, the Bible
reminds us that we are but a brief passing.
Here we are likened to middle-eastern grass, which could both spring up
and wither away in the space of a few hours.
While our life is brief, God is
eternal. He existed before this universe
and brought this universe into being.
While we change during our lifetime God remains the same from everlasting to everlasting. A thousand years are like a day to him. A thousand years are like the passing of the
night. When a child asks, ‘who made
God?’ we respond with those immortal words, ‘he has always been.’
These words bring comfort as Moses
reminds us that the LORD has been our dwelling place from generation to
generation. How reassuring for the first
hearers of this psalm to know that God was with them even as they wondered with
Moses in the wilderness. Similarly, the
Christian knows that though we are strangers and pilgrims who are passing
through this world it is in God where we have our home.
But these words are also
difficult to accept. After all it is God
who turns people back to dust, saying
“Return to dust, O sons of men.” It
is God who sweeps people away in the
sleep of death. Our minds might be
brought back to the aftermath of humankinds rebellion in Genesis 3 and God’s
judgement where he pronounces, ‘By the
sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since
from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’
We are sinful and God is angry
(7-11)
I was once asked to preach on
this psalm at a funeral. As I prepared
my talk, the bluntness of these words struck me. They speak of God’s anger, wrath and indignation
plus our iniquities and secret sins. It also tells us that our days are filled
with trouble and sorrow.
In the nineteenth century certain
biblical scholars sought to reinvent the Christian message. They could not square the miraculous with
their enlightened thinking. They also
rejected the notion of God being angry and people being enslaved in sin. But as much as mercy and grace are Christian
teachings so are God’s holiness and his judgement. The Bible offers the hope of heaven, but we must
also warn people of the possibility of hell.
There is a reason for the
shortness of life. There is a reason for
the pains of life. There is a reason for
the end of life. From that first
rebellion in the Garden of Eden humankind has lived with enmity towards our
creator and suffered the consequences of a creation subject to his curse. Since the fall all of us, both those in
Christ and those living apart from him, live in a world where death and
sickness reign. Our lives are a struggle
and then they end with a moan.
God is merciful so we have hope
(12-17)
But there is hope! In the closing verses we read of God’s compassion, his unfailing love and his favour. We read of a people who are given a heart of
wisdom who have a reason to be glad.
While we all thirst to have meaning we read of God establishing the
works of our hands. While we know that
there must be more to life than our brief existence we hear of God showing his deeds to his servants and his splendour to
their children.
Our lives may be filled with
trouble and lived in the shadow of death but there is hope. God offers to be our dwelling-place not only
today but for all eternity.
Our days may be short but Christ
has conquered death. For those in a
living relationship with him the sting of death is gone and the hope of heaven
is sure.
God may be angry but in his
compassion he has sent his Son. In verse
11 Moses asked: Who knows the power of
your anger? One person experienced
the power of God’s anger. On that cross
Jesus bore the wrath and punishment his people’s sin deserves. As the apostle Paul declares, in one of my
favourite verses, God made him who had no
sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Conclusion
I want to end with the prayer in
verse 12: Teach us to number our days
aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
One day people will gather around
each of our coffin. The wise person
knows that life is brief and passing and acts accordingly. The wise person knows that the past cannot be
altered and the future is uncertain and we live in the present. The wise person knows that now is the time to
put our trust in Christ. The wise person
has reason for joy and hope, comfort in God, and confidence in the face of
death. May God grant each person here
that wisdom!
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