Psalm 90
October 13, 2024 Father in heaven, we are heartened that this psalm is bounded, at the beginning and the end, with words of trust and hope. For the middle of the psalm is sobering. And sobered we must be. For we too must live and walk with Moses and the ancient singers of this song as they lead us in reflecting on serious realities:
- The reality of sin: our spiritual crimes cannot be hidden from you.
- The reality of your wrath: as Adam and Eve were consigned to return to dust as a result of their sin, so we too share in that fate.
- The reality of life’s shortness: it remains for us a brief day, fading grass, a quick exit on wings.
Who considers the power of your anger? May we not fail to. Humble us, Lord. Lead us
further, inward and downward, into this psalm. In contrast to our culture’s distractions and
denials, may we embrace the confession, the lament, the groaning, the heart cry of Moses.
Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Yet we also gladly affirm, Lord, that we live on this side of Jesus’ life, death, and
resurrection. His appearance, and all that he did, brings to fruition the hope-filled words of the
beginning and end of the psalm. His sacrificial death bore and removed all divine wrath against
sin. His resurrection demonstrated our complete acquittal in the court of your justice. To
Moses’ cry, “How long?” Jesus answered, “No longer!” In response to Moses’ appeal, “Satisfy
us in the morning with your steadfast love” Jesus has inaugurated the New Covenant morning,
showing us in the sharpest focus and the most brilliant color your steadfast love. Truly he
brought life and immortality to light, making hope indeed the final word of this psalm. We praise
you for this gift!
Father, we still live in the flesh; we still sin; our lives are still all too brief; and we groan
inwardly. But we thank you that for us who are united with Christ, our inevitable death is not the
punishment of wrath, but the pathway to resurrection, when the new morning of the age to come
will yield a satisfaction without bounds. Truly in Jesus you have shown your work to your
servants; your favor is upon us; and you establish the work of our hands with the assurance
that, because Christ is risen, our labor in him is not in vain.
In keeping with this psalm we pray today for the Boal family as they grieve the loss of
Steve’s father. As the frailty and brevity of life painfully confront them, may Christ’s resurrection
be their comfort and mainstay.
We pray today, Lord, for Fall Fling up at Camp Shamineau. Minister to the leaders and
the two dozen students from our youth ministry who will be winding up their weekend soon. We
lift up to you their hearts, their health, their strength, their relationships, their travel back home,
and the ongoing influence of this weekend’s ministry of your Word to them. May this event,
through the power of your Spirit, in ways big and small, visible and invisible, be transformative in
their lives.
Finally, Lord, we remember and pray for the many victims of the recent hurricanes. We
lift up to you the injured, the bereaved, the missing, the rescuers. Have mercy, Lord. Mobilize
our fellow believers, the churches scattered throughout the ravaged areas, to display Christ in
their faith, their peace, and their acts of love for their neighbors. Establish the work of their
hands in this unique time.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And all God’s people said, “Amen!”