Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #130 -Psalm 90 - God's Eternity and Man's Transitoriness
Welcome to Berean's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse, wherever you are in the world. Thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee or tea and let's to Berean's Corner. Open up your Bible to Psalm 90. Psalm 90.
Speaker 1:Now some of you may be thinking, especially if you haven't been with me from the beginning and gone through this thing in chronological order. You may be thinking didn't you just do numbers 15? How do we get to Psalm 90? Well, let me explain. If you've been with me for a while, you know that I mentioned that we are going to go through the Bible chronologically, meaning that we're going to go through the bible through the books, through the chapters, in the way that that the events actually actually happen, which brings the story alive for you. So we do go through certain books. Like certain books you kind of go straight through, like we did with exodus, for an example. So from the beginning to the end of exodus, those events happen in those orders.
Speaker 1:But if you remember, if you go back to Genesis, we started out in Genesis the Tower of Babel happened and after that we went into Job. Why? Because Job was happening around the exact same time that the Lord called Abraham out of Ur to Chaldees. So what's happening here is that everything is going in chronological order. So what's happening here is that everything is going in chronological order. And if you just happen to be looking up Psalms 91 day and you just want to hear someone go through it, and you came to this, what I would encourage you to do over here at Berean's Corner is to go back to the beginning. And there's a reason why I number each lesson Number one, number two, number 50, number 51 is because we want to go in chronological order. So today we are at Psalm 90, and this is a prayer of Moses. This is after the events of Numbers 15. So, as we usually do, we will have our reader come up and read and then we will get into the lesson, psalm 90, and let's read.
Speaker 2:Psalm 90. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations, before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying Return to dust, o. Sons of men, for a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death. They are like the new grass of the morning, though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.
Speaker 2:We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins. In the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath. We finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years, or eighty if we have the strength. Yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away.
Speaker 2:Who knows the power of your anger, for your wrath is as great as the fear that is due. You Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, o Lord, how long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the lord, our god, rest upon us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands all right now.
Speaker 1:As I mentioned, the title of this lesson is god's eternity and man's transistor turretness. Now, the last time we were together, we looked at the laws of canaan, which included the laws regarding the sojourner and the laws of the Sabbath. Today we are looking at a prayer of Moses here in Psalm 90. Now, this is the oldest Psalm in scripture. There are 150 Psalms in total. Some think that the Psalms are part of one book. Sometimes you see it in particular, depending on the Bible you're reading, it'll say like book one and book two, but most think that this is part of one book. But the Psalms are spread out over the rest of the Old Testament, with the first being here right after Numbers 15.
Speaker 1:Let's look at what Martin Luther said about this remarkable Psalm that we're about to get into. Quoting Martin Luther, just as Moses acts in teaching the law, so does he in this Psalm, for he preaches death, sin and condemnation in order that he may alarm the proud who are secure in their sins, and that he may set before their eyes their sin and evil. Now, before we get into this psalm psalm 90, the first time that we're covering I want to do a little breakdown of Psalms as a whole. Now I thought about doing a separate uh you know lesson on an intro to Psalm, but I figured I would just get right into it right here and I'm gonna kind of mix my intro, if you will, or introduction, with giving you a little bit about what the Psalms are about. Now there are different authors in the book of Psalms right Now. I've already told you this. One right here is Moses. But there are different authors and I would like to go over some of those right now.
Speaker 1:Author number one we want to talk about is David. David is the main author of the Psalms, and historical books of the Bible clearly agree to the fact that he wrote and organized music for worship in the sanctuary. We see this in 2 Samuel 22, verses 1 through 51. We also see that in 1 Chronicles 6, verses 7 through 36. David is specifically credited with writing 73 of the Psalms. It is also speculated that David may have been the one who wrote many other Psalms that do not have specific authorship. You'll notice that some of the Psalms won't have an author behind it. We do not know that. Most of the other writings were closely associated with David right. So we know that David wrote quite a few of the Psalms. You know, luke specifically talks about David writing Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. You know Luke talked about that in Acts, chapter 2.
Speaker 1:The second author we want to talk about is Asaph. Asaph was the head of David's choir in Jerusalem. We see this in First Chronicles, chapter 6, verse 39. We also see it in First Chronicles, chapter 15 and chapter 16. Asaph wrote Psalm 50 and he wrote Psalms you know believed to be 73 to 83, for a total of 12 Psalms. So it's believed Asaph wrote about 12 Psalms.
Speaker 1:Third would be the sons of Korah. The sons of Korah were Korathite Levites who were highly honored by King David. They were also chief temple servants at the time of Hezekiah. You can can read about that in 2 Chronicles 20. These sons of Korah were Levitical singers who wrote, primarily during the captivity and here's some books specifically titled to the sons of Korah Psalm 42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, 89, for a total of 11 psalms. Fourth would be Solomon, david's son. It is said that Solomon wrote Psalm 72 and 127, so it's believed that Solomon wrote a total of two Psalms. Next would be Moses. Moses specifically stated that he wrote Psalm 90, the one that we are going through today. Then we have Ethan. It says that Ethan wrote Psalm 89, and Ethan was an Ezraite. Okay, now in the Septuagint, it is believed that they claim that Jeremiah wrote Psalm 131 and that Haggai and Zechariah collectively wrote Psalms 138, 146, 147, and 148. So, as you can tell, there are a number of authors who have been credited writing this book of psalms.
Speaker 1:Now I want to give you some of the classifications in the psalm. So, depending on what kind of bible you use, you will see a title where it says something like psalm 90, a psalm of so and so. So, for right here, let me grab my bible I'm using'm using right here, psalm 90. It says a prayer of Moses, the man of God. So my Bible is telling you that Moses is the author of this Psalm. But you will also see other little subscription, uh, scriptures excuse me in some of the Psalms after you read the chapter. So I'm going to give you some example. We're going to go through some of the various titles that some of these psalms have, and this is all everything I have.
Speaker 1:To the best of my knowledge, uh, you will see it. Sometimes it will say adjaleeth hash shahar, which is a psalm of the dawn. That's like psalm 22. You will sometimes see alamoth, which is a psalm related to maidens, young, young unmarried women. You will see it sometimes say at the chef, which is a destroyed, not psalm, example Psalms 57, 58, 59 to 75. Geteth is a psalm of the wine presses for feasts or tabernacles. You will find that in Psalms 8, 81 and 84. Higgagon is a Psalm of meditation. We see this in Psalm 9, 19 and 92.
Speaker 1:Judithan, the personal name of one of the three chief musicians, psalm 39, 62 and 77. Janeth, elam Rahakim, a Psalm of the dove in a far off tree, psalm 56. Mahalep, a Psalm of the great dance. We see this in Psalm 53. Mahalep, a Psalm of great dance in the shawl. We see that in Psalm 88.
Speaker 1:Miskul you'll see that quite a bit is an instruction. We see this in Psalm 74 and 78. Miktan is a poem of gold that is engraved. We see this in Psalm 74 and 78. Mictan is a poem of gold that is engraved. We see it in Psalms 56 through 60.
Speaker 1:Mesmar is a psalm to be sung with musical instruments Psalm 6, for an example. Mut'laden is a psalm of the death of a champion or a son. We see it in Psalm 9. Selah is in Psalms and it means stop, consider and think. You will see that quite a bit after some of the Psalms Sigolion, a Psalm of a loud cry and a regular ode, for example, psalm 7, sure is a song. We see that in Psalm 30, 66, 67, the word song is sure. Shushanan is a Psalm of spring festival or lilies. We see that in Psalm 80.
Speaker 1:Tifala is a prayer. We see that in Psalm 17. And then we have Tihala, not Tifala like we just read, but Tihala is a praise. We see that in Psalm 145, and that is only used once, but it is a hebrew title of psalm. So I did all of that to give you an example of the psalms, because when you're reading the psalms yourself, you may have wondered at times okay, what is this miscal, or what is this? You know? Uh, this and that, where it doesn't give a particular name. So now you have an idea of the psalm. So when we go through the book of psalms, when we go through the other 149 after this, you will have an idea.
Speaker 1:Now back to today's lesson, which is psalm 90. We will break this psalm down into four parts. Part number one God is everlasting to everlasting. Actually, I am going to keep your finger right here in Psalm 90, if you, if you want to, you can go back with me to Numbers 15. Remember, I said this came after Numbers 15, so what we're going to do is we're going to put it right in this context. So, if you want to turn back to Numbers 15 and I'm going to start at Numbers 15. And I'm reading verses 38 to 41.
Speaker 1:And then we're going to go right into Psalm 90 to show how this prayer came about Numbers 15, verse 38. Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put the tassels of each corner a cord of blue, and it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, in order that you may remember to do all my commandments and be holy to your God. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord, your God. Right to Psalm 90, verse 1 through 2. Right after that Moses went right into this prayer Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations, before the mountains were born, where thou dost give birth to the earth and the world. Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. So Moses is starting this Psalm out by giving it's a prayer, but he's starting out by giving praise to the Lord.
Speaker 1:Then we move on to part two. Man's time on earth is short. We see this in verses three to six. Thou dost turn back unto dust and dost say return. O children of men for a thousand years in thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night. Thou has swept them away like a flood. They will fall asleep in the morning. They are like grass with sprouts anew. In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew. Towards evening it fades and withers away. What is he talking about? He's talking about that's us. Our time is short on this earth. Sometimes we look at you know people who sometimes live a good long life. 88, I would say about 88 to 100, that's a good long life and full of years. But the Lord is saying that when you really look at it in the scheme of things, in the big picture of things. It's really a short time. We move on to part three.
Speaker 1:The reasons, man, time is short is because of sin. We see this in verses 7 to 12, for we have been consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath. We have been dismayed. Who is he talking about? The lord, thine anger, the lord thou, has placed our iniquities before thee, our secret sins, in the light of thy presence. What is he saying here? There, there are no secret sins to the lord. The lord knows all for all. Our days have declined in thy fury. We have finished our years like a sigh. As for the day of our life, they contain 70 years or, if due to strength, 80 years. Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow. For soon it is gone and we fly away Still talking about how short our time is here because of our sin. Who understands the power of thine anger and thy fury, according to the fear that is due thee? Ok, who understands, lord? We don't. We don't understand it.
Speaker 1:Verse 12. So teach us to number our days that we may present to thee a heart of wisdom. Teach us to number our days. Take each day as a blessing, take each day precious and remember that that day could be your last day. Now I want to look at, uh, go back, I want to look at verse 8 one more time.
Speaker 1:Thou has placed our iniquity before thee, our secret sins, in the light of thy presence once again. He knows of all of our secret sins, right? He knows of the things that we do in the dark places. As a matter of fact, he mentions this in one more place. Keep your finger right here, uh, in psalm 90, and go to psalm 139. Real quick, psalm 139. Let me illustrate the point that he brings this up again, about, uh, about our secret sin. Psalm 139, verse 1. Oh, lord, thou has searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up.
Speaker 1:Drop down to verse 12. Even the darkness is not dark to thee, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to thee. What is he? What is he saying right there? Even the darkness is not dark to thee. So even when we do things in the dark, it's not dark to the Lord. We are hiding from other people. We do things. You know what does the scripture say? Those who do their, they do it at night. We do our evil at nighttime because you think nobody can see us. But nighttime is like daytime to the Lord. You can't hide from him. And even in the daytime, when it's bright, his wisdom, his eyes shine even brighter. He sees everything.
Speaker 1:We will move on to part four. But there is good news for sinful man God can still bless you. We see this in verses 13 through 17,. Back in Psalm 90, 13 to 17. Do return, o Lord. How long will it be? And be sorry for thy servants, o, sanctify us in the morning with thy loving kindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days thou has afflicted us in the years we have seen evil. Yes, we have let thy work appear to thy servants and thy majesty to thy children. And let the favor of the lord, our god, be upon us and do confirm for us the work of our hands. Yes, confirm the work of our hands. God can still bless even sinful men, you and I, even in our sin. He can still bless us. Now, he doesn't want us to stay in our sin. He does not want us to stay in our evil, but when we're willing to come up out of it, he can still bless. Bless us All right. That brings us to the end of Psalm 90, moses prayer.
Speaker 1:I hope that you got something out of this lesson. As always, continue to pray for me to stay steadfast in the work, because our time is short. On this earth, the clouds are forming every single day. You see something to let us know that the Lord is near, and near to the Lord could be another hundred years from now. Lord could be another 100 years from now. It could be another 80 years from now, but it could also be another 80 or even 80 days from now, and I will continue to pray for you as well. I appreciate you all very much. That is all for now, god bless.
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