How to Make Your Life Count
Ps 90:10-17
10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away.
11 Who understands the power of Thine anger, and Thy fury, according to the fear that is due Thee?
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.
13 Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Thy servants.
14 O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days Thou hast afflicted us, and the years we have seen evil.
16 Let Thy work appear to Thy servants, and Thy majesty to their children.
17 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.
Introduction
A. Psalm 90 is a very unique psalm. For example, no statement in this psalm is taken from any other psalm. As a study of the Book of Psalms will show, the psalms repeat themselves; certain thoughts found in one psalm are found, almost word-for-word, in other psalms. Furthermore, it has no affinity with any of the other psalms, meaning that it does not cover any similar circumstances.
It does have, however, similarity and affinity with one chapter that Moses wrote elsewhere: Deuteronomy 33, another poetic song. If you compare Deuteronomy 33 with Psalm 90, you will find several elements of comparison, similarity, and affinity. For example, Deuteronomy 33:1 begins with the phrase: Moses the man of God. This is the same as the beginning of the superscription here in Psalm 90. Moses is the author of this one psalm as well as the five books of Moses. Because he is the writer of this psalm, we know that this is the oldest of the one hundred fifty psalms. The others were written by men who lived much later than Moses.
B. The Timing and Historical Background
As the context shows, Moses wrote this psalm at the end of the forty years of Wilderness Wanderings. By the time, he wrote this psalm, the Exodus Generation had passed away; the judgment of the sin at Kadesh Barnea had run its course; and the Wilderness Generation is soon to enter the Land. So this psalm is written from the background of the sin of Kadesh Barnea.
Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (1983). The Messianic Bible Study Collection (184:3). Tustin, Calif.: Ariel Ministries.
Overview
A. How Long Can We Expect to Live?
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.
· Given 70-80 years that we can expect to live
-- First 10 infancy
-- Second ten developmental
-- Sleep 1/3 of rest
-- Gives us 30-40 years to fill
· Labor = 5999 `amal (aw-mawl'); from 5998; toil, i.e. wearing effort; hence, worry, wheth. of body or mind: KJV-- grievance (-vousness), iniquity, labour, mischief, miserable (-sery), pain (-ful), perverseness, sorrow, toil, travail, trouble, wearisome, wickedness.
· Sorrow = 205 'aven (aw-ven'); from an unused root perhaps meaning properly, to pant (hence, to exert oneself, usually in vain; to come to naught); strictly nothingness; also trouble. vanity, wickedness; specifically an idol: KJV-- affliction, evil, false, idol, iniquity, mischief, mourners (-ing), naught, sorrow, unjust, unrighteous, vain vanity, wicked (-ness). Compare 369.
· we fly away = 5774 `uwph (oof);a primitive root; to cover (with wings or obscurity); hence (as denominative from 5775) to fly; also (by implication of dimness) to faint (from the darkness of swooning): KJV-- brandish, be (wax) faint, flee away, fly (away), X set, shine forth, weary.
B. What Can We Expect to Understand About God’s Will For Us?
Who understands the power of Thine anger, And Thy fury, according to the fear that is due Thee?
· Power = 5797 `oz (oze);or (fully) `owz (oze); from 5810; strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise): KJV-- boldness, loud, might, power, strength, strong.
· Anger = 639 'aph (af);from 599; properly, the nose or nostril; hence, the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the rapid breathing in passion) ire:KJV-- anger (-gry), + before, countenance, face, + forebearing, forehead, + [long-] suffering, nose, nostril, snout, X worthy, wrath.
· Fear = 3374 yir'ah (yir-aw');feminine of 3373; fear (also used as infinitive); morally, reverence: KJV-- X dreadful, X exceedingly, fear (-fulness).
*During most of that time, we don't properly recognize place of God in our lives, and His total involvement in doing anything meaningful with our lives
C. How Can We Live Wisely?
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.
· Teach us = 3045 yada` (yaw-dah');a primitive root; to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.) [as follow]:KJV-- acknowledge, acquaintance (-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, [un-] awares, can [-not], certainly, comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be [ig-] norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have [knowledge], (be, make, make to be, makeself) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have [understanding], X will be, wist, wit, wot.
· Number our days = 4487 manah (maw-naw'); a primitive root; properly, to weigh out; by implication, to allot or constitute officially; also to enumerate or enroll:KJV-- appoint, count, number, prepare, set, tell.
· Present = 935 bow' (bo);a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications): KJV-- abide, apply, attain, X be, befall, + besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, X certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, + eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, + follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, + have, X indeed, [in-] vade, lead, lift [up], mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, X (well) stricken [in age], X surely, take (in), way.***. buwb. See 892, 5014.
Presentation - How to Make Your Life Count
· Following verses give 7 assurances that when life is over that we've numbered our days correctly--7 things to focus on; all begin with the letter "P"
1. First "P" = the PROMISE of the Lord's return
Do return, O Lord; how long will it be? And be sorry for Thy servants.
· I'm convinced that any lasting value in life has to begin with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ
· If have that relationship, we are to be looking for His imminent return for His believers
2 Pet 3:10-15
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
15 and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
· Live each day as if our last, asking that His priorities be accomplished in our life
2. Second "P" is Christ's Presence
O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Heb 13:5-6 - Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"
6 so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?"
Rom 5:5 - and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (NAS)
1 Cor 6:19 -Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (NAS)
Eph 1:13 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
2 Tim 1:14 - Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to {you.}
3. Third "P" is to have the proper Perspective on problems
Make us glad according to the days Thou hast afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil.
James 1:2-12
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position;
10 and let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass; and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.
12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
4. Fourth "P" is LIFE PURPOSE
Let Thy work appear to Thy servants
· This verse talks about God's working our life plan for us
· We are running a race - Heb 12:1-3
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
5. Fifth "P" is the POWER OF GOD AT WORK IN OUR LIVES - so our children can see the reality of our faith
And Thy majesty to their children
Ps 127:3 - Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward.
Deut 31:10-13
10 Then Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths,
11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing.
12 "Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.
13 "And their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."
Ps 78:1-7
1 Listen, O my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children,
6 That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children,
7 That they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments,
Eph 5:25-6:4
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;
26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;
29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,
30 because we are members of His body.
31 For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.
32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.
6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise),
3 that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
6. Sixth P is the PRIORITY OF PRAYER
And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
1Thes 5:17-18
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Eph 6:18-20
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
1 Tim 2:1-8 - First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.
7 And for this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.
1. Priority of Prayer = first = (proton) (:1)
1st in time = earliest of all
1st in sequence = 1st in line
1st in rank = of highest rank
2. The Elements of Prayer (:1)
a. Entreaties = supplications (deiseis) Personal need as related to govt under which live
b. Prayers (proseuche) = prayer to God
c. Petitions = intercessions (euteuxeis)
- To throw self into another's person
- To draw near as to converse freely
d. Thanksgivings (eucharistas)
*Ph 4:6-7 = these 4 minus (3)
*1 Tim 4:5
3. Objects of Public Prayer (:2)
a. All men
b. Kings
c. All in authority (huperecho) = to hold above
4. Results of Public Prayer: (:2b)
a. Tranquil (epemon) life = absence of outward disturbance
b. Quiet (epuxios) life = quiet from within
c. In all piety and dignity
*eusebeia = reverence = dutiful regard
*semnototi = gravity, honesty, becoming deportment
5. The Proof of Public Prayer (:3)
a. Delights God's Sight = Good and Acceptable
- Approves self to our conscience
- Within God's will (revealed)
b. Demonstrates God's heart = evangelism (:4)
- Desires (thelei) = wish from emotions
- Knowledge (epignosko) = full knowledge
c. Demonstrates God's Oneness (:5)
d. Demonstrates God's Love (:6)
- Ransom = payment instead of being a slave; Tim 2:14; Gal 3:13
e. Divulges God's Program (:8)
(1) Delegated
(2) Dissensionless
7. Seventh P is the PRIVILEGE OF WORK
And do confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands
· Our work is part of life purpose
John 4:34 - Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. (NAS)
John 6:28-29 - They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"
29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
Col 3:23 - Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men;
Eph 6:5-8 - Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;
6 not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.
7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
III. Conclusion:
A. Looked at Life Priorities
B. 7 P’s from Psalm 90 to make life count:
1. Promise of Christ’s Return
2. Christ’s Presence
3. Proper Perspective on Problems
4. Life Purpose
5. Power of God
6. Priority of Prayer
7. Privilege of Work
C. Not a recipe that guarantees life will count, but certainly helps.
D. Final Thought: 2 Pet 1:2-8*
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge;
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness;
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.