Psalm 90:9-10

Psalm 90:9-10 9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. 10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Let’s put ourselves in Israel’s shoes during Moses time, shall we? You have witnessed first hand the wondrous events that brought you out of Egypt. You walked through the dry bottom of the Red Sea with a mountain of water stacked high on either side. You have had your food provided for you every day. You have had the visible presence of Jehovah with you every moment, either displayed as a pillar of fire or as a pillar of smoke. You have seen God’s love demonstrated to you in ways that you could have never dreamt.

You have also seen His wrath. You have watched the ground open up to consume those that had forgotten God on the day that Moses brought His word down from the mountain. You have been in quail piled up to your hips because you dared to grumble against God because of a lack of meat. You have lost loved ones to the fiery serpents that were sent because you were discontent. To top it all off you heard these words from God when you refused to trust Him and enter the land of Canaan that He had promised you:

”The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above…you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. I the LORD have spoken this; I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.” (Numbers 14:29-35)

”For all our days have passed away in Your wrath” Moses sighs. Remember where we left off in yesterday’s post? We were talking about how God lays all of our sin before Him for viewing. How bitter were the tears that were cried in the wilderness march of Israel? Do you think perhaps that both the young and the old brought to mind God’s word each time someone passed on the trail? What must it be like to be confronted every day with the guilt and consequence of your sin?

“We finish our years like a sigh” Moses continues. What must it be to finish your life knowing that you’re life was more difficult by the making of your own hand? ”Yet their only boast is labor and sorrow”, that’s a depressing epitaph to be printed on your tombstone? Wouldn’t you rather it read “He lived a life of joy and peace”?
I believe these verses are given to us to remind us what the life lived outside of God’s will is like. We live in an age where God is displaying His grace and mercy in great abundance. I am very thankful that God does not deal with me today in the same way that He dealt with Israel.

Think for a moment of what it must be like to come to your end outside of God’s will. What do you have left? You work your whole life to what end? How many families have we seen torn apart at the end of a life as those who survive battle over the scraps left behind? “Labor and sorrow” – another understatement for the life outside of God’s will. Much like Israel in Moses time we live our lives underneath the visible presence of a Holy God. Unlike Israel – most of us are unaware of our sin and simply think we’re getting a “raw deal”.

Contrast that with the life of the Christian. We live and move and breathe inside of God! Every moment of our life should be guided by His will. Every thought, word and deed should be to the glory of God the Father! No matter whether we are prince or pauper a life lived in service to the Father is never one that ends defeated. Look at Paul’s words from Philippians 3:

7But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Do you catch what Paul is saying here? He tells us that no matter what we have to endure in this life it is all worth it because of Jesus.

To be sure we may look back on our lives and be sorrowful because of the blessings that we have missed because of our sin. But what a wonderful thought to know that we do not have to live in that place! What a wonderful truth it is to know that if we confess and repent from our sin we can once again walk with the Father!

Let’s also make sure that we don’t paint the picture of a completely miserable Israel. They continued to see God’s mercy during their wanderings. He continued to provide for them even in their rebellion. How happy do you think the people were when they crossed over the river on dry land under the leadership of Joshua? They also understood that God was a God of grace and mercy who would never deny His covenant.

Spend some time today praising God for His mercy. Spend some time today thanking Him for the work of His Son. Spend some time today praising Jesus for His sacrifice in our place.

Let us not end this life defeated beloved. We serve a risen Savior and if He is for us who can be against us?

Grace and peace to you all…