It seems that as we grow older, time seems to fly by more quickly. I can still remember my days in grade school quite vividly, though they are well over half a century ago. My first jobs seem like just a few weeks ago. Yet they, too, were really many decades ago. Most of my teachers have long since passed away, along with many of my first co-workers. Life goes by so quickly. As a child, we feel that time goes by slowly. A special day that might be a few weeks or months away, seems to take forever to come, and the ten or twelve years till becoming an adult seems like a lifetime away. A lifetime! As our psalm today reminds us, that is something that comes and goes so quickly, and thus, something that we should not waste or fritter away. Let’s look into this psalm, one of several favorite psalms of mine.
Psalm 90 was written by Moses, undoubtedly in his later years. Like many of us, he probably thought about how quickly life passes by. One day we’re young, filled with youthful vigor, and the next we’re old and groaning as we try to stand up. As Moses begins the psalm, he acknowledges how God has been there, with him and with every believer, right from the start (vs. 1). As believers, God is our refuge, Someone we can run to when we need a safe sanctuary. Someone to shelter us in the storms of life. As we look back over our life, we see it marked by both good events and times of trial and hardship. God has been our dwelling place through them all.
As we contemplate God, Scripture tells us that He is without beginning or end (vs. 2). He is not bound by time, as He created time. When we are younger we think that we have all the time in the world to do this or that. Yet that time is quickly gone, and very soon we see that the finish line is not that far off. Yet with God, a thousand years or one day is the same (vs. 4). He is not limited or restricted by time. Because He is eternal, we can depend on Him.
Ever since Adam was expelled from the Garden of Eden, mankind has been under a decree of death (vs. 3). We are here for such a brief time, however God is always there. Moses compares our short life to like a sleep at night (vs. 5-6). We go to bed at night, and before you know it, it is morning again. He also compares it to a short-lived plant. We have a flower that grows in our front yard. When it blossoms it is very beautiful, but the blossoms only last a few short days and then fall off. Poof! It’s gone in a blink of an eye. That’s like our lifetime. Thus, Moses warns us that we need to evaluate the use of our time in light of the brevity of life (vs. 12). Life is short, so we need to use the little time we have more wisely, not living for the moment, but with eternity in mind.
Such thoughts can cause some people to fall into depression. They may feel “what’s the use”. They may look at their life and see nothing but failure. Moses could have felt that way. He, like everyone else, had some failures and mistakes in his life. He knew that God knows all of our sins, that they are open before Him (vs. 8). Yet Moses also knew that God is a God of mercy and forgiveness (vs. 13-14). In this psalm, Moses asks God to have mercy on frail mankind, living in a sin-cursed world.
The only way to make our short and brief life meaningful, and to avoid falling into any depression over the seeming futility of it all, is to turn to the Lord God, depending upon His mercy and grace to give our life value, significance and meaning (vs. 17). Do you want your brief life to amount to something? Do you want there to be some meaning to what you do during your time here? Everything we do will amount to nothing unless it is established by God. Those who pass through life depending on their own strength will find it a way of labor and sorrow. However, those who have given their lives to the Lord Jesus, and lean upon Him, will find that He will give us strength and guidance throughout life, even in difficult times, and we will find throughout the years a way of joy and rejoicing.
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