Why? Because the Psalms are loaded with information to help us live the Christian life.
One of the things we all need help with is how to deal with the differences we have with each other.
We all have many differences.
Illus: Mayor Giuliani, of New York city, was honored for his leadership before leaving office in 2001. He said that in his estimation, the reason that New York City is considered by some as the greatest city in all the world is because New York city is the gateway for people from all over the world, to enable them to come and fulfill their dreams.
He went on to say that regardless of RACE or RELIGION, they can come to this great land and make a good life for themselves and their families.
But New York City does not have any special claim on diversity. Many of the cities of America today are like this. These cities are filled with all kinds of RACES and RELIGIONS.
At the close of next year we will still have our many differences, but we still will have one thing in common: we all have the same amount of time each day.
At the close of next year, no one can say, “That’s not fair, my days were only 12 hour days and his days were 24 hour days.”
God gives us all the same amount of time each day.
• Each day has twenty four hours in it
• Each hour has sixty minutes in it
• Each minute has sixty seconds in it
If we are blessed and live this coming year, 200____, our TIME will be divided into:
• Months
• Weeks
• Days
• Hours
• Seconds
• Moments
If God gives us another year, we have to decide what are we going to do with those 365 days.
As Christians, we know immediately that if we are a child of God that loves the Lord, then out of that 365 days:
• There will be fifty-two Sundays for worship. As Christians who love the Lord, we know these days will be set aside to worship the God and Savior that we love above ANYONE or ANYTHING else. This takes care of 52 of the 365 days God will give us.
• There will be fifty-two Wednesdays in which we will work, but in the evening, we will have our families in the mid-week service, seeking spiritual strength and guidance.
But that will give us 261 days remaining in this year, and we are going to have to decide what we are going to do with them.
As we enter this New Year, the most foolish among us are those who live their lives with no plans to do something with the gift of time that God gives them.
Illus: They are like a ship’s Captain who is going to take a voyage but does not have the slightest idea where HE IS or WHERE HE IS GOING.
Illus: This saying was found on a Sundial.
Haste traveler! The Sun is sinking now.
He shall return again--but never thou.
(Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
This is so true. The sun will return to make that circle again, but we do not have the assurance that when it returns again, we will be here to see it.
We must seize this moment and take advantage of every precious day that God blesses us with.
Moses, in Psalm 90, gives us some things we should do as we approach this coming year.
I. RECOGNIZE THE TIME GOD GIVES US
Look at verse 10, we read, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
I want to give you some shocking news this morning. It is something that many in this congregation do not know. Some do, but many do not!
WHAT IS IT PREACHER?
Based on the Word of God, I need to tell you, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIVE FOREVER!
We have people today who seem to think they are going to live forever. I am preaching to some today whose lives reflect that they seem to think that death is 10, 20, or 30 years from now. But how foolish to live such a life, because death may be standing at their door, and may soon enter.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells of visiting a retired gentlemen who was sick in bed. The thing that caught his attention in the conversation, was that this old, retired man, who was unsaved, was laying in the bed talking about what he planned to do in 20 or 30 years. But within six months he was dead and buried!
We mortals need to RECOGNIZE that we are not going to live forever.
Illus: According to the Bible, the average life span is 70 years.
This Bible statistic has proven to be true, because the average life span of mankind today is between 60 and 70 years.
We get that based on all the deaths of mankind.
In these statistical facts, we have to take into consideration…
• There are some teenagers who will never live to be adults
• There are some in their thirties who will never see their children grow up
• There are some in their forties and fifties who will never get to see their first grandchild
But let me say something to those who are in their sixties; if you live to be the average age of 70, you have ten or less years to live.
That is, in ten or less years you are going to be standing before God to give account of the way you spent those 365 days, year after year.
We mortals need to RECOGNIZE we are not going to live FOREVER!
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO LIVE THOSE FEW YEARS YOU HAVE LEFT ON THIS EARTH?
We need to RECOGNIZE THE TIME God gives us, but also we need to-
II. REDEEM THE TIME GOD GIVES US
Look at verse 12, we read, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
God wants us to be mindful of time:
• He gives us the SUNRISES to let us know that He has given us another day.
• He gives us the SUNSETS to let us know that the day He has given us is soon going to be gone forever.
• He gives us the SEASONS throughout the year to remind us that the year that He has given us is gradually sliding past us.
God never intended for people to live their lives the way they live their lives today, with the attitude they can do what they want to do because they are going to LIVE FOREVER.
• Everyone should have a wrist watch, and they should wear it every day. It should be a constant reminder that every second that ticks off is one second of our life that is gone forever.
• As we feel the heart beat in our chest, it should remind us that our heart is getting closer to the time it will cease to beat.
WE NEED TO REDEEM THE TIME that God has given us!
WHAT IS TIME? TIME IS LIFE!
When I give you my time I am giving you my life. When I no longer have any time to give, I will have no more life to live.
• It is important that we come to church every Lord’s day, because when we do, we are saying to God, “I recognize you are the giver of life, and as I come to church I am giving you my life.”
• By the same token, when a person does not come to church, they are shaking their fist in the face of God, and they are saying, “I have plans for my life and my plans do not include you, God.”
We spend our TIME on the things we love.
You can notice that:
• People spend so much time with ANIMALS, because they love ANIMALS.
• People spend so much time with FLOWERS, because they love FLOWERS.
• People spend so much time with SPORTS, because they love SPORTS.
If you want to see what a person loves, watch how they spend their time.
And if we love God, we will spend time in the house of God.
Illus: One day a lady told a preacher that the Bible does not say you should attend church three times a week. He said, “Well actually it does.” He then quoted, Hebrews 10:25, which says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” He then pointed out that when she joined this church, she knew the manner of worshipping was three times a week. But he could tell that she did not care what the Scriptures taught, so he tried to approach her from another angle. The wise pastor said to her, “I want to ask you something. IF YOU LOVE GOD, WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT TO COME TO CHURCH THREE TIMES A WEEK? WHY WOULD THIS SEEM TO BE A CHORE TO YOU?”
The answer is obvious, she did not love the Lord. She was quiet content to take the DAYS God gave her, and selfishly use them on herself.
• Moses said we are to “Redeem” the time that God gives us.
• We have only so many days left to do KIND DEEDS, and to help others.
• We have only so many days left to EXALT THE NAME OF THE LORD before a lost world.
• We have only so many days left to try and WIN OUR LOVED ONES TO CHRIST.
Our life reveals that time is running out.
• The wrinkles on the face are saying time is slipping past us
• The gray hairs that we see, tell us it won’t be long now
• The aches and pains we feel in our body, let us know that this body is wearing out
• Looking at these teenagers, who only a short time ago were in the church nursery, tells us WE ARE GROWING OLD and we do not have many days left here
Moses suggests that we allow God to, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Moses said the reason we should NUMBER OUR DAYS is so that we will, “Apply our hearts unto wisdom”. That is, we will not live our lives as the foolish world lives their lives.
Paul tells how we are to live our lives in Ephesians 5:15-17, we read, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
We must RECOGNIZE THE TIME GOD GIVES US, REDEEM THE TIME GOD GIVES US, and we must …
III. REJOICE IN THE TIME GOD GIVES US
Look at verse 14, we read, “O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”
Notice, after Moses suggests that we RECOGNIZE, and REDEEM the time God gives us, we also should REJOICE.
The sooner a person discovers the mercy and love of God, the sooner they will find satisfaction, and live a life of rejoicing.
Something you hear many Christians testify to is this; they regret they waited so long before they gave their hearts to Christ.
Illus: Sometime back, there was a report of a woman that lived in poverty. She lived in an old dilapidated house that was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. She wore ragged clothes, and often went to bed hungry because she did not have money to buy food. She later died because she did not have money to buy the medicine that she needed. After she died, the old house she lived in sat there for years, and the spiders and the rats took possession of it. It finally got in such bad shape that the man who purchased the house after her death decided to tear it down. In the process, they discovered that someone had hidden over a million dollars in the walls of this house.
But what a shame, this poor lady lived a life of poverty when she could have lived a life of wealth. She could have had the best of everything, but she went through life without anything.
This old lady is a picture of people without Christ. They could have enjoyed the blessings of God for years, but instead they went lacking.
Conclusion:
Illus: One man recalled that his mother always kept the family clock ten minutes fast so she would not be late for anything. But whenever anyone looked at the clock, she always reminded them that it was ten minutes fast! She deceived herself about time, as we all do sometimes. (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
Let’s not deceive ourselves about time. If God would be merciful and give us another 365 days this coming year, WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO WITH THEM?
If you are going to do something for the Lord, NOW IS THE TIME TO DO IT, AND NO LONGER PROCRASTINATE.
Illus: F. Brown of Hampstead, a London suburb, was unhappy with some of the books in the local library. He wrote a letter of complaint and mailed it July 14, 1938. The library was one mile from the post office. The letter arrived in 1976--thirty-eight years, seven months, five weeks, and one day later. By that time the librarian had died and the library was closed. (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
What you are going to do for the Lord you had better do, because time is running out.
Illus: We have all watched football and basketball teams where a team could have gone down in history, but time ran out on them.
Do not let time run out on you.
I. RECOGNIZE THE TIME GOD GIVES US
II. REDEEM THE TIME GOD GIVES US
III. REJOICE IN THE TIME GOD GIVES US
