1981 Psalm 90

Driving home: My pastoral concern is simply this. In the first psalm, the blessed man or woman is described as the one who meditates in the law of God day and night.

Moses, as leader during the wilderness wanderings, witnessed approximately 15,000 deaths per year. This illustrates the constant presence of death in his life and provides context for his realistic perspective on man's transitoriness.

penned this psalm towards the close of his own earthly life and ministry. He penned the psalm as one who could look back over the history of his own life, over the history of the life of the people of God, both in Egypt and then as God brought them out of Egypt, and then perhaps throughout the great majority of those 40 years of wandering, at the end of which you'll remember, that the Lord was pleased to take the life of Moses, and then personally to bury him in a place that was never revealed to the people of God. Someone has estimated that during those wilderness wanderings,

6:12 - 6:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Focus your meditation as a starting point not on man's changelessness or your failures, but on God in the wonder and glory of His covenant commitments to His people.

The attempt to use human language to express eternity highlights the impoverished nature of language and the limitations of a creature of time trying to think in terms of timelessness, emphasizing the profound truth of God's eternal nature.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. The moment we try to use human language to express eternity, we feel both the impoverished nature of language and the limitations of a creature of time trying to think in terms of timelessness. And perhaps there is no more eloquent and simple expression of this great reality than is found in verse 2 of Psalm 90.

11:31 - 12:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Focus your meditation as a starting point not on man's changelessness or your failures, but on God in the wonder and glory of His covenant commitments to His people.

Mountains are presented as symbols of permanence in Scripture (e.g., Psalm 46). Moses' assertion that God existed 'before the mountains were brought forth' underscores God's absolute eternality and immutability, even beyond the most stable created things.

Before mountains were brought forth, mountains in Scripture always representing that which is permanent and unchangeable. You remember in the 46th Psalm, though the mountains, the very symbol of permanence, should slip and jump into the sea, we will not know nor be afraid. So Moses is asserting that before the mountains were brought forth, those constant reminders of that which from the standpoint of creation is permanent and stable before they were brought forth, or ever God had formed the earth and the world from everlasting, that is, from eternity past,

12:13 - 12:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: From verses 3-11, Moses accurately assesses man's experience as a transitory creature under the sovereign will and wrath of God due to sin. Martin urges a sober, realistic view of…

Moses compares a thousand years in God's sight to 'yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.' This analogy vividly illustrates the brevity of human life and even long historical periods from God's eternal perspective.

and sayest, Return, ye children of men. And even though men should live a very lengthy life as they did, you remember, in those days early in the history of the world when it was not uncommon for men to live seven, eight hundred and then some even into nine hundred years yet before God this is nothing. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch. The Hebrews divided up the night into three watch periods and he says a thousand years are but as one segment of the night,

16:37 - 17:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Take a long, hard, sober, realistic view of man's experience, coming to grips with the fact that God is turning man back to destruction and that man is living under the wrath of God.

Moses' own moment of weakness, when he struck the rock and spoke abusively, resulting in his inability to enter the Promised Land, illustrates his personal experience with sin and God's wrath, reinforcing his assessment of man's fallen nature.

He had lived too long with himself and he had lived too long with the people of God to have any dreamy notions that every day in every way were getting better and better and better. No, no. Moses himself knew to the bitterness of his own soul how that in a moment of weakness though he had talked face to face with God and though he had been commended for his meekness and his forbearance yet in a moment of weakness he disobeyed God you remember and struck the rock and spoke abusively of the people of God

20:09 - 20:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray for a heart of wisdom to number your days, realistically coming to grips with man's transitory nature and living a pattern of life commensurate with its brevity.

Men can calculate vast distances in space with many zeros, but fail to calculate the most important realm: their own days. This highlights the folly of not numbering one's days, despite the fixed, limited lifespan.

They do not number their days. They can calculate the distances between galaxies in terms of numbers that blow our minds. When people start talking about expanses that involve a number and then 25 or 30 zeros after it I find I'm staggered when they start quoting these figures. Men can calculate in every realm but in the realm that counts the most.

27:35 - 28:04 Read in full sermon

The point: Be not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is, redeeming the time, buying up the opportunity, for the days are evil.

Martin recounts the 'trauma' of his fortieth birthday, realizing he was 'starting down the other side of the hill.' This personal anecdote vividly illustrates the sudden realization of life's brevity and the acceleration of time as one ages, reinforcing the need to number one's days.

Now for you children it is hard for you to think that your days are numbered but they are. If you are ten years old you have already used up one seventh of your allotted time if God gives you your full seventy. Think of it one seventh and before long it will be one sixth and then before long it will be one fifth and one fourth and one third and one half and two thirds and three quarters. I shall never forget I will never forget to my dying day as long as God gives me my memory the trauma of my fortieth birthday some six and three quarters years ago

29:32 - 30:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Be not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is, redeeming the time, buying up the opportunity, for the days are evil.

Time seems to crawl in childhood, then walks, then runs, and after forty, 'takes wings and flies,' and after fifty or sixty, 'kicks in the afterburner and breaks the sound barrier.' This analogy powerfully conveys the subjective experience of time accelerating with age, underscoring the urgency of numbering one's days.

as long as I was in my twenties and thirties though I trust I lived in the light of the fact that God could take me at any time it was always the thought I'm still climbing up that hill you see I haven't reached the halfway point but suddenly you're there and you've reached it and I had heard others tell me this and now I know by experience once you reach that you don't go down the same rate you came up you go down the hill a lot faster than you went up and time seems to crawl when you're ten, eleven and twelve you wonder if you'll ever be a teenager and then you remember that thirteenth birth...

31:00 - 31:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not despise the goodness of God, which is intended to lead you to repentance; pray with Moses, 'Oh God, teach me to number my days.'

Martin dismisses the 'brash physician's' claim that science might obliterate death in fifty years as 'sheer folly.' This example refutes carnal hopes for immortality through human means, emphasizing the certainty of death due to sin.

pray with Moses oh God teach me to number my days help me to bring near that hour when I must be summoned out of this life when I like the grass shall be cut down and wither and having died I must go to judgment oh God help me to number my days you see this is no attempt to try to scare people into getting serious about the gospel these are facts my friend you can't argue with them you're on your way to death and you may have some kind of a carnal hope when you hear a talk show that some brash physician says we are now unlocking the mystery of aging

41:04 - 41:49 Read in full sermon

The point: As parents, take Psalm 90 and make it your prayer, asking the Lord to establish the work of your hands in the care of your little ones, making every service an offering to Him.

The song 'Sunrise, Sunset' from 'Fiddler on the Roof' is quoted to illustrate the swift passing of time, particularly for parents watching their children grow, reinforcing the sermon's theme of life's brevity.

you wonder at times is there ever going to be an end to it any meaning to it my friend the end will come very very quickly you'll sit there at family worship a few years from now and say how in the world did all three of my kids become teenagers how did that happen I love that song from Fiddler on the Roof I don't remember growing old dear sunrise sunset time passing so swiftly oh dear young mother young father listen take this 90th Psalm make this your prayer Lord as I face a new day you may not even have time to go away

44:00 - 44:44 Read in full sermon