With the exception of the poetic musings of Job, this psalm is probably the oldest Psalm in the scriptures. Close to three and a half millennia, we may assume have passed since Moses prayed these words over the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with him and the Lord of Hosts. All through the Exodus journey towards the promised land, Moses was plagued by the doubtful, the faithless and the spiritual weakness of ordinary humanity.

Of course, the Lord of Hosts does remind us that even the man of God was imperfect. For one sin at least, probably as many more as is ordinary, Moses was laid to rest outside of the promised land. While Moses' body was buried privately as the Lord arranged, we may be certain from the biblical promises that his spirit was taken up into the reality of the real promised land - heaven itself.

According to our expectations, Moses and the patriarchs lived long and full lives. And only in the last century or so has the average life span lengthened in comparison to many centuries that have gone before. We now average seventy-five years here on earth, the seventy and even eighty where the Lord has blessed us with health according to the promise of this Psalm.

Of course, certain medical prophets predict a possible 125 years, but even the baby boomers of our time are slowly realizing that their teen age years are long lost and not even the various pop medicines, gymnasiums and specialized diets can restore youth. Should they want those childish years to waste again, they should not want to go back to far! Were they able in the spirit of Nicodemus' question to return to the womb, they would only have a 67% to 75% chance or being born again in that manner in our day and time. The Abortion lobby has taken a terrible toll these last twenty-seven years. In fact the average life expectancy should be calculated as fifty to fifty-three if we would account for the abortion statistics!

Now there is a spin that you won't hear in the Media! Can you imagine a headline that announced that the average span of human life had declined by fully one third? I say all of this so that we don't get too sentimental about the century just past. By all accounts, the twentieth century was the bloodiest ever recorded. Hitler's deranged genocide was only the visible tip of the statistical iceberg. Stalin, Mao and others have competed with Hitler's accomplishment. And even the American feminists along with their socialist and humanistic allies have managed to out-Hitler the Nazi extermination camps. The silent holocaust has consumed between thirty-five and forty-some million unborn. And were it not for a healthy and liberal immigration policy, there would be no impetus for the building splurge, business expansion or any other growth statistics in our economy.

All of our accomplishments in the last one hundred or one thousand years have not overcome nor even limited the real human fact of sin. And even though the enemies of God have succeeded in delegislating most social stigmas against immorality, still the blood of innocents cries out to heaven for a just God to call the nations of the world to account! Three and a half millennia and we are still no better people than those whom the Lord addressed through the prophetic words of Moses. May we hear this mighty man of God speak to us again.

This psalm of Moses is divided into three parts. Part One includes the first six verses and these compare the briefness of man's existence to the eternity of God. Part Two, also of six verses, defines sin as the reason for man's briefness. And Part Three, which includes the last five verses, is an appeal to heaven for God's active presence.

Verses one and two blend the thoughts that follow. There is awed contemplation of the eternal nature of the Lord God Almighty in comparison with the generations of man. There is also the acknowledgment that He is our dwelling place. And what a wonderful God we serve. His, is an absolute eternity, unbounded by time. By comparison, verse three declares that man is limited and must return to the dust of the earth within time. Verse four again rejoices in the eternity of God. And He is more than just endless, He is above and beyond time. Even a thousand years is insignificant to Him.

But we are reminded of our limitations. The watches in the night remind us of military guard duty. Traditionally, those sharing the watches sleep four hours to every two spent awake. How quickly does the four hours pass, and how slowly in comparison the two when awake. Just as quickly passes the generations of frail sinful men. For those not dwelling with God, this is indeed a sad mournful note. Martin Luther notes on this fifth verse that "before we are rightly conscious of being alive, we cease to live." Generation after generation rolls on and on. The Psalmist notes that men are like grass. Renewed time after time. This renewing is evident every spring. Most years we notice that even as the grass withers and browns it is often renewed with dew and the occasional rain or sprinkling. Even the yellow dandelions spring up and dissipate within the briefness of time. So is the tragedy of man. And why is this? We move on to part two for instruction from God's message through Moses.

In verse seven we need to comprehend what is the blessedness of believing that God is our dwelling place. And we can learn well from the warning here. If we do not seek God as our dwelling place then we must learn that in our frailty we could be consumed by His righteous anger. Blessedness lies in being within His fold. We would do well to avoid collision with the full wrath of God almighty. We have already seen the difference in eternal perspective, what hope might we have without Him? Indeed, the second part of this verse may well indicate the state of our country today. In the words there "And by Your wrath we are terrified." there may be a hint about a popular phenomenon that has recently developed.

Who fifteen years ago was even aware of any stress syndromes? Was this a new found disease? Or could it possibly be God's holy spirit working His indignant will in our sinful world? Is this the reason for stress? Then we need to learn from our very human situation! We need to allow the Holy Spirit to do what is promised in verse eight. We need to become aware of our sins otherwise the consequences of verse nine will become fulfilled. In verse ten we are reminded once again of our frailty. At best we have seventy or eighty years. And we know from experience that as we become older it seems that the years pass around more quickly then ever. Will there be trouble and sorrow? Of course, if we have no hope in God!

Of course, I have to admit that the moths until I retire next fall from public service seem to drag on forever. This has been my slowest year in memory! That is because life in the public sector has become tedious, that life can be very unsatisfying, it can also be burdensome. But it will all end. Yet, my twenty-five years in the public archipelago of ignorance has served some good. My own spiritual journey, like that of the great Russian writer,Alexander Solzynetsin, has been heightened. In addition, each year I am reminded that God's young people too need a breath of truth now and then to survive. Adversity truly teaches us to depend more and more upon the great God of heaven. In these last verses of part two we see that man to be wise must seek two things.

First if we are wise we will learn of the power of God's righteous anger against sin. Who knows that? Is it not those who are made to realize the unacceptability of sin to a holy and righteous God.

Second, if we are wise God must teach us to number our days correctly within the context of His grace.

And this brings us to the last portion of Moses psalm. The prayer of petition. How appropriate would this prayer have been to Israel in the desert during those forty years! In this prayer we ask the Lord to relent, have compassion on His own people. There is a sense of urgency. How long? But it is not one of impatience, but of yearning. Long life without God is brief, how much better to spend that life within God's kingdom. In verse fourteen we sense how much better it would be to be satisfied in His love early in our lives so that we may celebrate joy in His unfailing love. Even if knowledge of Him comes late in life we may indeed know that the years spent with Him are more precious than the afflictions of our previous life without Him.

The early sadness of this Psalm may well vanish when we contemplate the difference of life in and through Him. For those who know God, the regular order of generations allows us and our children and grandchildren to see the working our of the deeds of our God.

Lately, I have been reading extensively about a workable biblical understanding. of God's theonomy. Now, I won't get off the subject with that arguable doctrine, but there is a certain sense that I think is important. In our own time, we may feel disappointment for the advance of God's Kingdom in our own country. We should not dwell on pessimistic thoughts. After all, the Kingdom is advancing well in Africa and Asia. And in the context of 2000 years we can very well speak of Christ's Victorious Kingdom growing down through these many centuries. Oh that our own families and their children might see God's deeds and splendor.

Also the prayer here finishes with the request that God's favor will rest upon us and that we will be more than just spectators, that we will become the workmen of God through whom His will and work are carried out. Now, we have to realize that not every era undergoes a Great Awakening, nor national or even regional revival. These events are special gifts of God. We never know if our ministry is to be like that of Jeremiah or that of the Apostles.

Lastly, let us return to verse one with the reminder that God will be our dwelling place more than just a brief 70 to 80 years. In fact, once we are His, we are His for all time. The Psalmist indeed prays as we should pray for a vision of God's presence that will enable our work in His name to be accomplished. As we set ourselves to the task of serving Him may we earnestly pray the words in verse seventeen regularly. "And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands."

To paraphrase an immortal description, the twentieth century was "the best of times, it was also the worst of times." And in that literary telling of the tale of two cities, let us comprehend our calling and ask the Lord to most earnestly to bless His own city, the Bride of Christ, the Lord's own Church in the coming thousand years. And let that City of God shine forth through our own citizenship, in order that all of those that He is calling to Himself may hear the Gospel call and so come in to swell the ranks of those, who like Moses' children are making their pilgrim journey to the heavenly paradise. Amen.