Great Prayers of the Old Testament
Part 29: Moses Shows Us How to Pray
Psalm 90:1-17
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared August 8, 2025)
BACKGROUND:
*Today God wants to bless our hearts by speaking through one of the most unique Psalms in the Bible. It's Psalm 90, written by Moses, and the opening words in vs. 1 call it "A Prayer of Moses the Man of God."
*God has given us many more prayers His Word. The Dake Annotated Reference Bible lists 222 different prayers in the Bible: 176 in the Old Testament, and 46 in the New Testament. So anyone who has read much of the Bible has read some of these prayers. (1)
*God surely put a lot of prayers in His Word, and there are some tremendous reasons why. First, God is showing us that He wants us to pray, also that prayer is important, and that prayer is powerful. God also uses these prayers to teach us how to pray. So today we are going to explore the prayer of Moses in Psalm 90.
*John Phillips gave us this helpful background information: "Next to the book of Job, Psalm 90 is most likely the oldest piece of writing in the Bible. This psalm was written by Moses in the wilderness on the way from Egypt to Canaan. So, Psalm 90 stands in grand isolation as the oldest psalm in history, one of the greatest psalms ever written, and the first great masterpiece in the Old Testament hymnbook. (2)
*Let's get started by reading Psalm 90:1-17:
1. Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3. You turn man to destruction, And say, "Return, O children of men.''
4. For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.
5. You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
6. In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.
7. For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified.
8. You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
9. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh.
10. The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
12. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13. Return, O Lord! How long? And have compassion on Your servants.
14. Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15. Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, And the years in which we have seen evil.
16. Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children.
17. 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.
*Notice again that in vs. 2 Moses declared, "Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." And J. Vernon McGee explained that the original Hebrew word for "everlasting" there 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!" (3)
*So without Christ, we are just very mortal creatures. But with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can share in the eternal life of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
*And in this Psalm, God shows us a great man's prayer. Moses was one of the best men who ever lived. And his prayer can help us have a better prayer life.
MESSAGE:
*Have you ever wished you could have a better prayer life? Most of us would say "YES!" And we're not the only ones. In Luke 11:1, one of the disciples saw Jesus praying, and when the Lord finished that disciple said, "Lord, teach us to pray..."
*That disciple wanted a better prayer life. And most Christians feel the same way. The great news today is that we can have a better prayer life. And Moses shows us how.
1. FIRST WE HAVE TO MAINTAIN OUR RELIANCE ON THE LORD.
*That's how Moses began his prayer in vs. 1. He expressed great reliance on the LORD by saying, "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations." In other words: "Lord, You are our place to live! You are our home."
*Well, everybody goes through some problems at home. And sadly, some people come from tragic homes. But generally, home is a good and safe place to be. Home is a place where you know you are loved. Home is a place where you can rest and relax.
*I have lived in 26 different homes during my 74 years, mostly houses, but 3 apartments and 2 trailers. In one of my bedrooms, I could lie down at night and reach all the way across the room to turn off the light.
*And I have moved around a lot, but nothing like Moses. He had to roam around in the wilderness for 40 years! What do you learn by circling around in the wilderness for 40 years? One of the best things you can learn is that this world is not our home.
*And Moses said, "Lord, YOU are our home!" And what a home He is! Speaking for all people of faith, Moses said, "Lord, You have been OUR dwelling place in all generations."
*Think about the Lord being our dwelling place. Think about living in the Lord. That has got to be the safest home in the universe. Now, I feel safe in our home, unless we are under a tornado warning. Then, Mary and I join Butters in the bathroom.
*But living in the Lord is the safest place to be. Really, it is the only safe place to be. Moses expressed his reliance on the Lord. First, he said, "Lord, you are our place to live!" Then in vs. 2, Moses basically said, "Lord, we can count on you for ever and ever!" "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God."
*Church: We can rely on the Lord from everlasting to everlasting! Remind yourself of that when you pray, and tell the Lord. That will definitely give us a better prayer life.
2. MOSES SHOWS US HOW TO PRAY: WE HAVE TO MAINTAIN OUR RELIANCE ON THE LORD. BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO MAGNIFY OUR REVERENCE FOR THE LORD.
*When Moses prayed in vs. 3-11, he magnified his reverence for the Lord. And he began by humbling himself before the Lord. Moses did this by comparing the frailty of man to the supremacy of God. How frail is mankind? In vs. 3 Moses spoke to the LORD and said, "You turn man to destruction, And say, "Return, O children of men.'' J. Vernon McGee explained that "God returns man's frail body to the dust, saying, 'Go back to where you came from.'" Then in vs. 5 Moses said that the LORD carries us away to death, like someone caught in a flash flood. Man's life is also like a night's sleep, so life goes by before he knows it.
*Then in vs. 5-6, man is like grass that grows up in the morning, but is cut down and withers in the evening. Next in vs. 7, Moses got a lot more personal, as he considered his own frailty. There, Moses said, "We have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are "troubled" or "terrified."
*Charles Spurgeon explained that the original word used by Moses there is much stronger than merely being "troubled" or "terrified." "It carried the idea of being cut off, being destroyed in forms of overwhelming terror."
*Moses also considered our frailty in vs. 9-10 where he said, "All our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (4)
*It's interesting that Moses himself was 120 years old when he died. But the 70 to 80-year time limit he mentioned basically still holds true today. There are over 8 billion people in the world right now. And as August 5, 2025, the oldest is a lady, Ethel Caterham in the United Kingdom. Ethel is almost 116 years old. The oldest man lives in France, Andrée Bertoletto, headed toward 115. (5)
*But in the whole world of well over 8 billion people, there are only 12 people over 114. This is our frailty. And when we are only in our mortal body, we are incredibly frail. But the LORD God is invincibly supreme.
*So in vs. 4-5 Moses said this to the LORD: "A thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. You carry them away like a flood . . ." Then in vs. 8, Moses told the Lord, "You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance."
*And in vs. 11 Moses prayed, "Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath." When Moses compared our weakness to God's infinite strength, he came to the inescapable conclusion that we must fear the LORD God Almighty.
*We must give proper reverence to God. And we really need to take Moses' word on this, because he was much more familiar with God's wrath than we are. Moses had seen the 10 plagues that God sent on Egypt: Water turned to blood, then plagues of Frogs, Lice, Flies, Severe pestilence on their animals, boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness, and Death of the Firstborn, -- both men and animals.
*On top of all of that, Moses had seen the wrath of God on his own people, for example, in Exodus 32, Numbers 16, and Numbers 21. In Numbers 16, a man named Korah led a rebellion of 250 leaders against Moses, and God poured out His wrath on those rebellious people. Here is part of the story from the New Living Translation:
32. The earth opened up and swallowed the men, along with their households and the followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.
33. So they went down alive into the grave, along with their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished.
34. All of the people of Israel fled as they heard their screams, fearing that the earth would swallow them, too.
35. Then fire blazed forth from the Lord and burned up the 250 men who were offering incense.
41. But the very next morning the whole community began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You two have killed the Lord's people!"
42. As the people gathered to protest to Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Tabernacle and saw that the cloud had covered it, and the glorious presence of the LORD appeared.
43. Moses and Aaron came and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle,
44. and the LORD said to Moses,
45. "Get away from these people so that I can instantly destroy them!" But Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground.
46. And Moses said to Aaron, "Quick, take an incense burner and place burning coals on it from the altar. Lay incense on it and carry it quickly among the people to make atonement for them. The LORD's anger is blazing among them -- the plague has already begun."
47. Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. The plague indeed had already begun, but Aaron burned the incense and made atonement for them.
48. He stood between the living and the dead until the plague was stopped.
49. But 14,700 people died in that plague, in addition to those who had died in the incident involving Korah.
*Moses had witnessed some of the strongest demonstrations of God's wrath ever seen on earth. And God put these stories in His Word, so that we would have a healthy fear of the LORD. Everybody needs this healthy fear of the LORD God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because Psalm 111:10 tells us that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."
*Let me tell you about a TV talk show that came on years ago. This was back when the nation was rocked by school massacres like the one at Columbine. The question asked on this show was: "Why are these kids doing this?"
*Montel Williams was the host, and he had a number of top psychologists who offered opinions ranging from brain abnormalities, to cultural influences such as rock music and video games.
*After the experts gave their opinions, Montel gave his theory. Surprisingly, he said that he thought the reason why these kids were doing this was that they no longer had any fear of God. That's why they can go and murder 10 classmates, and then turn the gun on themselves, because they think that will be the end to all their suffering. Montel said, "These kids no longer fear neither God nor death, so in their mind they can do whatever they want and not be held accountable for it." (6)
*Church: Everybody needs a healthy fear of the Lord. It is the beginning of wisdom, and it will definitely give us a better prayer life.
3. WE HAVE TO MAGNIFY OUR REVERENCE FOR THE LORD. BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO MAKE THE RIGHT REQUESTS TO THE LORD.
*In vs. 12-17, Moses made 8 excellent prayer requests to the Lord.
[1] FIRST, IN VS. 12, MOSES ASKED GOD FOR WISDOM:
*"So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom." All real wisdom comes from the LORD God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And God is more than willing to give us all the wisdom we will ever need. All we have to do is ask God in faith, and trust that He will answer.
*We see this truth in James 1:5-7, where God's Word says:
5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
*We all need wisdom to go in the right direction in life. As famous baseball great Yogi Berra once said, "You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going. -- Because you might not get there."
-One time, Yogi also said, "I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early." (7)
*We must pray for wisdom to go the right direction in life.
[2] NEXT IN VS. 13, MOSES ASKED THE LORD FOR COMPASSION.
*"Return, O Lord! How long? And have compassion on Your servants."
[3] IN VS. 14, MOSES PRAYED FOR GOD'S MERCY.
*"Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy."
*Today we know that the compassion and mercy of God are best shown in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Thank God for the cross of Christ!
[4] IN VS. 14-15, MOSES PRAYED FOR THE JOY OF THE LORD.
14. Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
15. Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, and the years in which we have seen evil.
[5] NEXT IN VS. 16 MOSES ASKED TO SEE THE HAND OF THE LORD AT WORK.
16. "Let Your work appear to Your servants. . ." Moses did see the LORD work in amazing ways. And we need to remember that God has not changed one bit. With over 8 billion people in the world, if God only worked a miracle one in a million times, there would still be over 8 thousand miracles a day.
*And I am sure that God is working a whole lot more miracles than that, especially since my wife got home from MD Anderson in Houston yesterday. This was after a terrible year-long struggle with a large cancerous tumor in her esophagus. They almost lost her a couple of times after two major surgeries last February. And she had to endure seven brutal chemo treatments here at home. But hundreds of people have been faithfully praying for us. And she came home yesterday cancer free!
*If you have been led to pray for us, we can't tell you how thankful we are for your prayers too! God is always able to work in amazing ways! But we must pray!
[6] IN VS. 16, MOSES ALSO PRAYED THAT OUR CHILDREN WOULD GET TO SEE GOD'S GLORY.
16. "Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children."
*A Christian parent's greatest prayer is for their children to see the glory of God.
-We pray that they will see God's glory in the many wonders of His creation.
-We pray that they will see God's glory in the lives of godly people they meet.
-We pray that they will see God's glory in His Holy Word.
-We pray that they will see God's glory by faith in our crucified and risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so then they will see His glory face to face forever in Heaven.
[7] NEXT IN VS. 17, MOSES PRAYED FOR GOD'S BEAUTY TO BE ON HIS FOLLOWERS.
17. "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. . ." Here Moses was talking about inner beauty that can be seen on the outside, by the way we live our lives.
[8] FINALLY IN VS. 17, MOSES TWICE ASKED THE LORD TO ESTABLISH WORK OF OUR HANDS.
17. . . "Establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands." There can be no real, lasting, meaningful success in life without the help of the Lord.
*On the night before the cross, in John 15:1-5, Jesus said this to His followers:
1. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
*If we abide in the Lord, and ask Him to establish the work of our hands, He surely will. But none of that could happen without the Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION:
*In Exodus 12, the Children of Israel were still slaves in Egypt, when the LORD commanded them to observe the first Passover. There Moses led the people to sacrifice a spotless lamb, and put its blood on the door posts to protect them from certain death. Since that time millions of lambs were sacrificed in Old Testament times. And every one of those lambs pointed to the true lamb of God, Jesus Christ. So in John 1:29, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, John said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" But that could never happen without the Cross of Christ.
*What if you were the best person in Ouachita Parish? What if you were the best person in Louisiana? You're probably not. But what if you were? -- You would still not be good enough to go to Heaven!
*The only person good enough to go to Heaven was the Son of God who came down from Heaven to die on the cross for us so that we could go to Heaven. Without Jesus Christ we are simply lost and on our way to hell. But Jesus died for us and rose again. Now he offers His forgiveness, righteousness and eternal life to anyone who will receive Him as their Lord and Savior.
2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it this way: "For He (that is, God the Father) made Him (that is Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
*Bill Bouknight described Jesus's terrific trade by saying, "Not all trades are fair. Some take advantage of the ignorant or uninformed. But occasionally one bumps into a trade that is so caring, so loving that it rattles our selfish bones.
*At the heart of the Gospel is a terrific trade like that: A sinless Christ took upon himself the sin of all people, bore it to Calvary, suffered and died for it. And in exchange covered all believers with His perfect righteousness."
*Then Bill said, "Let's suppose that I am wearing a coat that reveals the state of my soul. Every commandment I ever broke, every needy person I ever ignored, every lustful thought I ever had, every profanity I ever uttered, -- all have left dirty marks on my coat. What a filthy garment it is! I must wear my coat and no cleaner on earth can remove its stains, and smudges.
*Let's suppose that Jesus approaches me. I try to hide because I don't want Him to see my filthy coat. It reveals everything bad about me. But Jesus finds me and says, 'Bill, I know all about your coat. I love you anyway. Give me the coat.'
*Miserable with shame, I turn the coat over to him. Then I watch as He marches off to Calvary. He wears it on the cross, bearing the penalty for every smudge and stain. And at that very moment when He cries out from the cross, 'It is finished' and breathes His last, suddenly I become aware that I am wearing a new coat.
*Instantly I recognize it. It is Jesus' coat! And there's not a smudge or a stain on it. It's a coat of perfect righteousness. Now I can walk into the very presence of God, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ." (8)
*What a trade! Only it’s more than a new coat. It’s a whole new life, eternal life! Jesus took our sin and death so that we could have both His righteousness and His eternal life. Have you made this trade? It is the most important thing you will ever do in life. And God wants you to do it today. So, call on the Lord Jesus Christ to save you. Then you will have God's life that lasts forever! And you will have His righteousness. He will be your righteousness. Plus, you will have a new purpose. You will have a life worth living. So let's pray like Moses prayed in vs. 17, "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."
(1) DAKE ANNOTATED REFERENCE BIBLE - Dake Publishing - https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/prayernew/222-prayers-of-the-bible/
(2) Adapted from EXPLORING PSALMS (Vol. ?) by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "BACKGROUND: Psalm 90: Life At Its Best is Very Brief" - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
(3) THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH J. VERNON MCGEE by J. Vernon McGee - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1981 - Psalms 90:1-2 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(4) Sources:
-THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH J. VERNON MCGEE by J. Vernon McGee - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1981 - Psalms 90:3 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
-BROWN-DRIVER-BRIGGS' HEBREW DEFINITIONS - Published in 1906; public domain- Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
-STRONG'S HEBREW AND GREEK DICTIONARIES - from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D. - Published in 1890; public domain. - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
-Henry Cowles, in "The Psalms; with Notes." New York, 1872 - Charles H. Spurgeon, THE TREASURY OF DAVID - Psalm 90, Published in 1869-1885; public domain - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2021
(5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_living_people
(6) SermonCentral sermon "Tremble Before His Holiness" by Barry Robinson - Isaiah 6:1-7
(7) Source: empyrean.ca/words/quotes/yogi - "In Other Words - April 2008 #2 - by Dr. Raymond McHenry - www.iows.net
(8) Adapted from Sermons.com sermon "A Terrific Trade" by Bill Bouknight - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21- 2002
