Psalm 90

This Psalm is a prayer that Moses prayed to God. For it to be recorded as part of Scripture, must have some special significance!

Moses addresses God to be the dwelling place of man in all generations, vs 1, because He is God from everlasting to everlasting, vs 2, and so whenever man’s strays from Him, to obey the fallen angels, He chastises them and permits them to be turned over to destruction, only, so that they repent and begin to dwell in Him once again, vs 3, but if they don’t, then they are given over to death!

A thousand years in God’s sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night, vs 4. So also, the destruction and judgment of God, because of sin, may take a long time to come, 2 Peter 3:8,9, but yet when it comes it will seem like just a day, when at one point everything was green, but by evening all is cut down and looks dry, just like the grass of the field. So also, will the wicked will be blown away like chaff, vs 5,6, and be consumed by God’s anger and wrath, vs 7,9; even at the time their secret sins, which they have not repented of, come before the light of God’s countenance, vs 8.

Moses records the days of man to be 70 years on an average, and, if by reason of strength they could go up to 80, yet, all through these years, he says, we experience labour and sorrow before we finally die, vs 10! On reading this, one wonders when Moses could have written this Psalm!

Perhaps, it was when he was in the wilderness, looking after his father-in-law’s sheep, and this is what he envisioned his future to be!

But what a difference it was for him in reality, after he encountered the living God at the burning bush and many more times thereafter!

For it was only at the age of 80 that he began to walk in God’s call for his life so as to accomplish one of the most amazing ministry of all times and he lived to finish his work only at the age of 120, at which time it was written of him that, ‘his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated’, Deuteronomy 34:7!

What a hope! What an encouragement to each one of us to begin walking with God in the same manner and enter into the most amazing time of our lives in the days ahead! At that point in the wilderness, he wasn’t certain as to which direction God’s wrath or passion could turn, vs 11. So, he asks God to teach us to live each day carefully, seeking His wisdom in everything we do, vs 12.

Then He pleads with God to repent of His wrath and show us His mercy, so that His servants may rejoice and be glad once again, vs 13,14, for all the days that they have endured God’s hand of chastisement and for the years that they have experienced evil, 15.

Now he tells God that it is the time for God to let His works appear unto His servants, and His glory unto their children and to let the beauty of the LORD to be upon us: so that the work of our hands are established, vs 16,17, enabling us to fulfill God’s destined route for our lives!

Do we have any doubt that God answered this prayer of his? I think not! So, why not we begin praying on the same lines, yes, even we who have endured God’s chastening hand upon our lives, by His grace, just like Moses did!
Amen.

Psalm 92

Although the author of this Psalm is not mentioned, this Psalm is entitled ‘a song or Psalm for the Sabbath day’.

And what are we expected to do on the Sabbath day? It says that on the Sabbath, it is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto the name of the most High God, vs 1. For His mercies and lovingkindness are new every morning and His faithfulness is seen every evening, vs 2.

So, the Psalmist says that we need to use not only our voices but different instruments as well to give thanks to God, vs 3. This is because God has made us glad and triumphant by the works of His hands, vs 4.

Yet, His great works and deep thoughts are not know to a man without sense or a foolish man, vs 5,6, because they don’t realise that when the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is only temporary, for if they don’t repent, they shall be destroyed for ever, vs 7,9; even as God, whom they spurned, continues to reign from everlasting to everlasting, vs 8.
As for the Psalmist who walks in righteousness, God will eventually exalt him and anoint him with oil that is fresh for every season of ministry, while his eyes and ears shall live to see and hear that his enemies have perished in his lifetime, vs 10,11.

In a similar manner will those who walk in righteousness be planted in the house of the Lord and flourish in the courts of the Lord, like the palm tree that speaks of victory and the cedar of Lebanon that is used for building and ceases to rot or decay for a long period of time, vs 12,13!

Even in their old age they shall still bring forth fruit and shall be fat and flourishing, vs 14, proving that the Lord who gives them victory and strength is upright and there is no unrighteousness in Him, vs 15!

So, this Psalm teaches us that only those who walk in righteousness can truly give thanks and praise unto the Lord on the Sabbath, because they have truly experienced and so testify of God’s lovingkindness every morning and His faithfulness every evening, while those who praise and thank God with their lips on the Sabbath, but live sinful, unrepentant lives the rest of their days, will eventually perish!

Rowena Thomas
Mumbai, India.