Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Have you ever pondered your significance in light of the world?
How about the in light of space?
or of the whole universe?
Have you ever pondered your significance in light of time that passes, year after year, decade after decade, century after century?
Have you ever pondered the significance of what you do in light of all the events in History?
Furthermore, have you ever pondered yourself in light of God? Have you ever pondered your lifespan in light of God’s existence?
And have you ever pondered your ways in light of God’s ways?
That is exactly what is all about.
is attributed to Moses - the only Psalm in the Psalter by him.
Now, when we think of Moses in scripture, we don’t instantly think of a songwriter or a poet, but here in that is exactly what we find.
Here we have recorded one of three songs, or poems, that moses wrote down.
One, found in , was written and sang when God delivered the People from the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
Another, found in , was recited by Moses to the people when he went up to Mount Nebo to die.
While the first is a song of pure praise and celebration, the second is a reminder of Israel’s rebellion against God, and His righteous judgment on sin.
, also, has a sonmber tone to it.
If it is really written by Moses, which it is clearly stated to be, then it seems most likely that it is related to the events that were happening at the end of His life, probably related to .
In numbers 20, we find the death of Miriam, the Sin of Moses striking the rock in the wilderness, and the death of Aaron, Moses’ brother.
These sad events - death, sin, frailty of life - are reflected in the Psalm strongly.
However, even though the overall tone of the Psalm is somber, the words do not have a defeated or a bitter tone.
James M. Boice puts it this way - “Here there is no bitter tone, only the recognition that man is frail and sinful and that he needs the eternal God as his only possible hope and home.”
That is the striking reality that gives to us - we are finite, frail, and sinful - we do not have the power of life and existence within us, and we do not live righteously by nature.
We need the Eternal God!
We need His wisdom, we need his mercy, we need is life-sustaining power now and for eternity.
This Psalm was the inspiration for a famous Hymn by Isaac Watts, one that you’ve probably heard.
“Our God, our Help in ages past,
Our Hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal Home.”
Macarthur puts it this way.
“The thrust of this magnificent prayer is to ask God to have mercy on frail human beings living in a sin-cursed universe.”
As we go through this Psalm together, I hope we see this:
Man is fragile and sinful, but God is eternal.
Therefore, we must run to Him for mercy.
1.
The Background - God is Eternal - Vv. 1-2
Moses begins the Psalm with a reflection on God’s interaction with His people in times past.
Vs. 1 - Moses was aware, like we all are, that life is uncertain at best.
There is no surety or permanence to be found, but God is an eternal “dwelling place” for the one who is trusting in Him.
We are short-lived and not very powerful, but God is eternal and is the foundation for all things.
Our dwelling place here is less than desireable, but we look forward to a better one!
Consider the faith of Abraham.
Our city here is temporary and weak, but God is our dwelling place in all generations - and He is anything but temporary.
Vs. 2
Not only do we see that God is eternal in the sense that He will always be, but what is more striking is the fact that He has always been!
The poetic language here is strong.
“Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world.”
Although it is not typically the way creation is described, here the picture is of God giving birth to the mountains - of bringing forth the earth and the world in a creative sense.
Of course, this is reminiscent of
But, far beyond the fact that God is the creater, this verse stresses that God preceeds creation.
He is before all things, he preexists all existence, he is not the result of anything, but rather everything is the result of Him!
He did not become God, but rather He has been God “from everlasting to everlasting.”
This, in theology, is called the “Aseity” of God, or His self-existence.
You see, nothing can make itself, nothing can simply appear by its own doing, nothing can self-create.
That would defy all logic and contradict itself on the most basic level.
But God did not create Himself, He did not “appear” by the will of one, and He is not self-creative, but rather He is self-existent.
The very properties of existence itself lie in God alone.
To put it in laymens’ terms, that is mind-blowing!
Let me quote R.C. Sproul here.
“Every effect must have a cause.
That is true by definition.
But God is not an effect.
He has no beginning and therefore no antecedent cause.
He is eternal.
He always was or is.
He has, within Himself, the power of being.
He requires no assistance from outside sources to continue to exist.
This is what is meant by the idea of self-existent.
Granted, it is a lofty and awesome concept.
We know of nothing else quite like it.
Everything we perceive in our frame of reference is dependent and creaturely.
We can’t fully comprehend anything as self-existent.
Hebrews 11:10
But just because it is impossible (by definition) that a creature be self-existent does not mean it is impossible for the Creator to be self-existent.
God, like us, cannot be self-created.
But God, unlike us, can be self-existent.
Indeed, this is the very essence of the difference between the Creator and creation.
This is what makes Him the Supreme Being and the source of all other beings.”
To put it more simply, God has always been, and God will always be!
This is the background of everything, He is the great uncaused-cause.
Nothing exists without Him, and nothing will last without Him.
He is the everlasting God.
Sproul, R. C. (Ed.).
(2015).
The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p.
938).
Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust.
That is a glorious truth and worthy of much meditation!
But Moses turns our attention to the frailty of man.
2. The Crisis - Man is Fragile - Vv. 3-11
As a complete, polar opposite to God’s eternality, we see Mans’ frailty and temporary nature.
This next section laments the pain and trouble of man’s existence in this sin-cursed world.
Vs. 3
Moses first uses a picturesque comparison when he reminds us that God, in his righteous wrath against sin, returns man to the dust.
This is no doubt a reflection on
Vs. 4
The point here is not that time passes quickly for God, but that the time of man’s life passes quickly in light of God’s existence.
Even if a man could live 1000 years, as Methuselah almost did, it is still only life a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night - just a few years.
Later in the Psalm, we are reminded that 70 or 80 years is about all we have - nowhere near 1000 years, and we compare this to the eternality of God - this gives us great perspective.
Vs. 5-6
Lest we begin to think we are invincible, undefeatable, or particularly hardy, we are reminded here that we do not stand in the way of God’s power.
The imagery of a flood brings to mind, firstly, the actual flood of judgment in Noah’s day.
The entirety of human and animal existence, save a few of each kind, was wiped out in a display of God’s righteous anger.
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