Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The Future is the Friend of Believers (Ps. 90:13-17)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/22/2012 9:55:16 AM



My Worship Time                         Focus:  We Are Believes and the Future is Our Friend



Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Psalm 90:13-17



            Message of the verses:  We will look at the last section of Psalm 90 this morning.



We Are Believes and the Future is Our Friend (vv. 13-17): “13 Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. 14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. 16 Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.”

            “13 O LORD, come back to us!  How long will you delay?  Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!  Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful.  Yes, make our efforts successful!”  (NLT)



            We began looking at this psalm by saying that life was a school, and at times is a difficult school as we are at times disciplined by the Lord in order to make us more like our Lord Jesus Christ.  Dr. Wiersbe writes that “in spite of the ‘black border’ around this psalm, the emphasis is on life and not on death.  The past and present experiences of life prepare us for the future, and all of life prepares us for eternity.



            Let’s contrast verses 7-12 with verses 13-17 to see the differences in them.  What we will see is that the closing prayer emphasizes God’s compassion and unfailing love; it will show His desire to give us joy and satisfaction, even in the midst of life’s troubles, and His ability to make life count for eternity.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “When Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord, the future is your friend.”



            7 We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury. 8 You spread out our sins before you- our secret sins-and you see them all. 9 We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan. 10 Seventy years are given to us!  Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. 11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger?  Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” (NLT)



            13 O LORD, come back to us!  How long will you delay?  Take pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. 15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!  Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. 17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful.  Yes, make our efforts successful!” (NLT)



            There is a great deal of difference from the psalmist in these two sections of Psalm 90. It is possible that verse fourteen refers to the manna that the Lord gave Israel for forty years as they wondered through the wilderness.  This gave physical satisfaction to them, but Jesus Christ is the bread of life who can spiritually sustain us especially if we feast upon His Word in the mornings so that we will be sustained throughout the day.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that “The nourishment of the Word enables us to be faithful pilgrims and successful learners.” Moses is writing about the sorrows that the children of Israel had as they wondered throughout the wilderness for forty years, but Moses also knew that the glories of heaven will far outweigh the sorrows that we go through on this earth. “16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2Cor. 4:16-18)



            10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. (1Peter 5:10)  Peter is saying that although we suffer here on earth we will be compensated in heaven, and this is what Moses is saying.  24  By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25  choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26  considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”  (Hebrews 11:24-26)  Although the work that Moses did seemed to not be rewarded at the time that he did them, he knew that they would not go unnoticed by God.  Moses gave up a lot in order to get a lot more, as the verses in Hebrews testify.

Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary by saying “Life is brief, so Moses prayed, ‘Teach us.’  Life is difficult, and he prayed, ‘Establish the work of our hands.’  God answered those prayers for Moses, and He will answer them for us.  The future is your friend when Jesus is your Savior and Lord.”



            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to remember that the future is my friend especially when life does not seem too good for me.  Being filled with the Spirit of God to do the work of God will bring me to greater blessings and happiness as I live on this earth.



My Steps of Faith for Today:  My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will work through me this day so that whatever I do will bring honor and glory to my Lord.



5/22/2012 11:35:57 AM





           

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