Teach Us to Number Our Days (Psalm 90, Part 3)

Humans Praying; God Answering (verses 13-17)

¹³Relent, Lord! How long will it be?

         Have compassion on your servants.
¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

         that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

      for as many years as we have seen trouble.
¹⁶May your deeds be shown to your servants,

      your splendor to their children.

¹⁷May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;

         establish the work of our hands for us—

      yes, establish the work of our hands.

We can pray that with God’s help He will replace our sorrow with joy and turn our lives into fruitful service for Him. May we wait patiently for the compassion of our Lord, and find no satisfaction in earthly things. The mercy of God alone can satisfy our souls. When God refreshes us with His presence, no one can take our joy from us. God’s grace meets the demands of justice and therefore blesses us sinners. God accepts our work, establishing it as having value. May His church be an eternal edifice to the praise and glory of God.

Answer, Lord! Have pity on us Your servants! Satisfy us with Your unending love, that we may be glad all our days. Let Your deeds be shown to us, and Your splendor to our children. Let the favor of You, Lord our God, be on us, and establish the work of our hands.

O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come;

Be Thou our guide while life shall last,

And our eternal home.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Teach Us to Number Our Days (Psalm 90, Part 2)

Humans Sinful; God Wrathful (verses 7-12)

⁷We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.
⁸You have set our iniquities before you,

         our secret sins in the light of your presence.
⁹All our days pass away under your wrath;

      we finish our years with a moan.
¹⁰Our days may come to seventy years,

      or eighty, if our strength endures;

            yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,

      for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
¹¹If only we knew the power of your anger!

      Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
¹²Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Our relationship with God is complicated by our sin. The more we remember our sins, the more God forgets them, and the more we forget them, the more He remembers them. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ removes our sin. Our mediator has placated God’s wrath by his sacrifice. Jesus removes our guilt and our death-penalty. May God raise us up, and set us free. Through our responsibilities and opportunities may we cope with the transience of our lives. May our daily prayers include daily acts of love. Jesus Christ has won the hope of glory and grace for us!

You, Lord our God, have set our sins before You. You see our secret sins. Help us to fear You. Teach us to number our days that we may receive hearts of wisdom. Thank You for Your love. Thank You for sending Your Son to set us free from our sin and Your wrath.

Teach Us to Number Our Days (Psalm 90, Part 1)

In His grace God will deliver us. May we number our days in His presence. As we seek refuge in God we can lift our hearts to our resurrected Lord—our mediator and reconciler.

Humans Transitory; God Eternal (verses 1-6)

¹Lord, you have been our dwelling place

       throughout all generations.
²Before the mountains were born

      or you brought forth the whole world,

            from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You turn people back to dust,

         saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
⁴A thousand years in your sight are like a day

      that has just gone by,

            or like a watch in the night.

⁵Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—

      they are like the new grass of the morning:
⁶In the morning it springs up new,

      but by evening it is dry and withered.

While we are finite and fragile, our Creator is eternal and self-sustaining. We go through time; God inhabits eternity. The Creator and Ruler of the universe is our “dwelling place.” We are His to command; He is ours to enjoy. The God we serve has given us an everlasting reward.

Thank You, Eternal God, for You are our dwelling place. With our brief lives on this earth we want to praise You. Before You had formed the earth, You are God.

http://www.genevanpsalter.com/attachments/GenPs090_vocal_homoph_BoP84.MP3