YEar 3 Day 142

Year 3 Day 142


Read — Psalm 90.12-17 


Message - Scott Woodburn 


“First posted Year 1 Day 11 - 2 April” 


As I sit to write today's devotional it is after two days with two funerals. Unfortunately funerals are not rare or new. This week's funerals have been my 14th and 15th respectively since September and my 141st since the 1st July 2005. Death called the enemy in Scripture is the wages of sin and whilst it is always there, the events of these days have brought it more to the fore. In Psalm 90, the only Psalm we have by Moses, he pulls no punches. He speaks of our frailty (v3-6&9-10) and the shortness of our lives (v10) but he doesn't allow us to wallow in the bad news. He prays that the Lord would teach us to number our days and that we would have wise hearts in the midst of our weak condition (v12). We could approach life with an attitude that says "Life is short so live it up because you are a long time dead!", such an attitude is not new. Paul when discussing the resurrection says that if we are not raised to life then we we may as well eat and drink for tomorrow we die (1 Corinthians 15.32) BUT in Christ we will be raised to life. A great day is coming when Christ will come and the faithful will be raised imperishable. Today though, a pandemic is everywhere, the coming of our Lord seems distant, so how are we to live? Moses prays. He asks God for mercy and pity (v13). The Lord knows that we are dust filled with frustration and frailty. "Have pity on us!" Moses cries. Have mercy on us and return to us O Lord! He continues by praying that God's steadfast love, His covenantal love, would satisfy us everyday (v14). We know that life is fleeting and the joys of this life can be short lived. O Lord! May our souls be saturated and nourished by the knowledge of Your steadfast love! "I will be your God" says the Lord "and you will be my people." THE LORD IS FOR HIS BRIDE! His love for us will not be diluted, it will not wane, He loves us steadfastly. Knowing the difficulty of life Moses prays that we would see good days (v15). We will see evil, we will weep at gravesides, we will feel the weight of our frailty but Moses asks that we will see good, we will rejoice at the birth of our children, we will love and be loved, that the evil days would be tempered with God given gladness and that future generations will see the glorious power of the Lord (v16). We are all short sighted people. We think about today, my life, my family, my health. Yet Moses prays for the generations to come that they will know the Lord. Edengrove is almost 250 years old. It has stood through wars, empires, pandemics and it still stands. The Lord has been our dwelling place throughout many generations, may there be many more to come! Finally he prays that the Lord would establish the work of our hands, that our lives would have a significance (v17). You are one individual out of billions on this earth, yet in Christ your life is not in vain. We are favoured by the Lord because we have trusted Christ. Your deeds unheralded and unseen in this life are known by the Lord. O Lord, establish the work of our hands! So in fear and frailty we cry "teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom!” 


Pray (ac-TS) 


Sing 


WSC  
Q23 What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer? Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
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