Psalms 90

NUMBERS SECTIONPeril and Protection (Earth in view)Psalms 90-106This begins the fourth section, the Book of Numbers in the “Pentateuch” of the Psalms. It opens with a prayer of Moses. It is the only psalm of Moses that we have. Moses was the first writer of the Bible, and you would naturally think that his psalm would be the first one. If you or I had arranged the Psalms, we probably would have placed it at the very beginning. But we did not do the arranging, and I am of the opinion that God supervised even the arrangement because Psalms 90 falls into place in such a wonderful way. The Book of Numbers records the great tragedy of a generation dying in the wilderness, never reaching the goal, which was the Promised Land. How appropriate it is to begin this Numbers section with Psalms 90, the prayer of Moses. Psalms 90THEME: The prayer of MosesThe setting for this psalm is out there on the desert during Israel’s wanderings. You recall that when the people of Israel came from the bondage of Egypt, they were led first to Mount Sinai where God gave them the Law. Then they went up to enter the Promised Land; but, instead of entering it, they turned back to that frightful desert. For thirty-eight years they wandered in the desertuntil that generation died. Moses saw a lot of people dieover two million of themand his psalm is the psalm of death. To me it is a remarkable psalm. It was Martin Luther who wrote: “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.” My friend, that is the teaching of this psalm. Notice how majestic and sublime it is as it opens:

Psalms 90:1

The word everlasting is figurative in the Hebrew. It means “from the vanishing point to the vanishing point.” God is from the vanishing point in the past and reaches to the vanishing point in eternity future. Just as far as you can see, from vanishing point to vanishing point, He is still God. How majestic is this thought! Man is just one of God’s creatures, an offspring, as it were. In the Book of Genesis Moses wrote, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen_1:27).

Then in Gen_2:7 Moses said, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” This psalm regards man as a created being, not as an evolved animal. He is a creature in a class by himself. He has a body that was taken from the ground, a body by which he is going to earn his living down here by the sweat of his brow until the day comes when it returns to the dust out of which God created it. That’s the picture of man.

Psalms 90:3

God returns man’s frail body to the dust, saying, “Go back to where you came from.”

Psalms 90:4

Suppose, my friend, you live as long as Methuselah livedalmost a thousand yearsthat would be like just a watch in the night. It would be like the flight of a bird through a lighted room, coming out of the darkness through one window and going out another window into the darkness again. Even if you could live one thousand years, you wouldn’t be very much. Life is so brief compared to eternity.

Psalms 90:5

This is a picture of man. In the wilderness Moses saw over one million people die. He probably attended more funerals than anyone else. Man’s body was taken from the ground, and Moses saw that body put back into the ground from which it had come. This leads me to another subject. I have received several letters asking me what I think about cremation. I do not believe in cremation. I don’t mean that God cannot raise up your body if you are cremated, but cremation is not a good testimony for a believer. Many unbelievers in Southern California want to be cremated and have their ashes scattered over the ocean. I knew an undertaker in Pasadena who was a pilot. He told me that many people wanted their ashes scattered over the ocean, and that was one of the services he provided. What is the motive of folk who want to be cremated and their ashes scattered over the ocean? Many of them don’t want their bodies resurrected; they think that God will not be able to get their bodies back together again. Christian friend, you give a testimony when you take your dead loved one who is in Christ and you bury him in the ground. In Joh_12:24 the Lord Jesus Christ said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” This is the picture of the Lord’s death and resurrection. When you bury your loved one, you are planting that body, expecting his resurrection some day. In the early days the cemetary was called two things: (1) an inn, a place where people sleep for a time, and (2) a field, a place where seed is planted. You do not burn up your seed! When you bury your dead, you are planting seed. Your testimony is that you believe God meant what He said when He promised resurrection, and you are looking forward to being reunited with that loved one some day.

Psalms 90:8

Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer used to say that secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven. The angels are watching you; they see what you do down here.

Psalms 90:9

In the Hebrew this verse is figurative: “We spend our years as a moan.” We go through life moaning. If you do not know the Savior today and have no hope for eternity, you just don’t have anything to live for, do you? You don’t have purpose in life or any direction.

Psalms 90:10

Threescore years and ten is seventy years. Fourscore years is eighty years. If you make it to eighty years, you sure are going to have a lot of rheumatism and arthritis. I am finding this to be true already. What a picture this gives of us down here! If you live for eighty years, it is going to be uphill all the way. We talk about coming to the “sunset” of life, but that is when you start going uphill, not downhill. We just pass our days as a moan. It is well to have a future, and that is what the believer has when he puts his faith in Christ.

Psalms 90:12

It is Christ who is made unto us wisdom. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1Co_1:30). If you have Christ, you have wisdom and hope.

Psalms 90:17

Oh, to do something in this life that will have value in eternity! My friend, Moses out there in the desert, pausing day after day in the wilderness march to bury someone, got a perspective on life that many of us do not have. What a beautiful and practical psalm this is!