The ball is going to be dropping in Times Square in just a few days. And 100 million Americans will head down a well-traveled path
We’re frustrated by our bad habits, by our bad choices. So, we vow to change things. We make New Year’s resolutions. We says, “This year, I’m dieting or exercising regularly or quitting smoking for good.” But by May, the stair stepper you bought is gathering dust in the closet, the diet books are sitting on the shelf unread, and the cigarettes still are in your back pocket. So, we quit. We give up.
Making resolutions is the easy part. A recent survey by psychologists at the University of Washington, found most people keep their #1 resolution for only two months. So how can we do better? God has a better idea. I call it…
resolution/revolution
Text: Psalm 90
Out of 150 chapters in the book of Psalms, this was the only one written by Moses – the man who God used to write the first five books of the Bible. He’s worth listening to!
Moses led God’s people from Egypt. You might remember that they were in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses saw a whole generation die. And at the end of his life, he sits down and writes. He has some observations to make.
Maybe you feel like you’ve been in the wilderness this past year.
The key verse is verse 17. And it ends this way in one translation:
Give permanence to the work of our hands.
If you want to leave a legacy, listen up. If you want your life to count after you are dead and gone, pay attention.
1. Get a God’s eye view. vv. 1-2
In verses 1 and 2, Moses is looking at God. He’s reminding us that God alone is eternal.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:1-2
Look at the mountains. He says, ‘Lord, even before the mountains existed, You were. And after they return to rubble, You still will be.”
This is Moses’ way of saying, “It’s not about us. It’s about God.” Life begins and ends with Him.
If you want to find out what to do with your time, look to the one who is not time-bound. God is not a recent invention. He’s been there from forever and will be around forever.
2. Remember, life is short. vv. 3-6
After Moses looks at God, he looks at us. God is eternal and we are temporary. This is a lesson in contrasts. God is infinite. We are finite. Look at verse 3:
You return man to dust and say, "Return, O children of man!"
Moses wrote Genesis. He knew we came from dust and we are headed back to dust. Verse 4.
For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
Moses wrote about a man named Methuselah. He lived 969 years. But even the longest life lived is like a yesterday to God. Verse 5.
You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream…
A flood comes suddenly. No one is safe who is in the path of a flood. Everyone is devastated. Verses 5b-6
… like grass that is renewed in the morning: In the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.
Psalm 90:3-6
In the near east, little flowers would spring up in the morning. New growth represents new life, hope, optimism. But in the heat of the day, the flowers fade. Our lives are like that. We are fading away.
3. Remember, sin makes you sigh. vv. 7-11
Why is life so short? It’s our sin that has shortened our lives.
For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
When God made Adam and Eve, they weren’t meant to die. God told them, “Don’t eat of this tree. Because in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.” They disobeyed God and they died. We’ve been dying ever since.
Sin blocks God’s blessing from your life. It activates His anger. And sin brings about death. Romans 3:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” Now, if sin brings about death, what does death bring?
For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The NIV says, “We end our years with a moan.” Sin brings death and death brings a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
A life filled with sin is full of trouble and sorrow. One pastor I read wrote that Moses is saying that life is a “wearing, wearying effort.” You begin to feel apathetic, tired, and unmotivated. You understand that “life is hard and then you die!”
You are going to live 70 years, maybe 80. Those years are going to be filled with hard work - toil. Moses had written before. “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat your bread.” After the hard work, we get trouble, sorrow.
Now, how’s all that for good news for New Years? Life is short because of sin. Life ends in a sigh because of sorrow. Why bother to focus on these dismal realities?
Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
Psalm 90:7-11
We focus on these dismal realities because they will help us develop an appropriate fear of God. Who gets it? Who reminds themselves of reality? Who understands that God is angry with sin? Who understands that God is a God of wrath? Who respects God? Who has a reverence for God? Who fears God?
Answer? Not many. Not many of us want to stop and think about our lives in light of God and eternity. Most of us live in a denial of death. We think that the flowers last forever.
We ignore our sins and its results. We don’t really want to deal with our own death, our own sigh. We fill up our lives with activity – with entertainment – to cover over the pain and sorrow and hardship of life.
God is calling us to be sober – to be God-fearing people. See the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
4. Plan for personal growth. vv. 12
If you want to fulfill God’s purposes for your life, you have to have a plan for growth.
So teach us to number our days…
Psalm 90:12
Number your days. He already told us that God is good to give some of us long life – 70 to 80 years. How many more days do you have to live if you live that long?
There’s a site on the internet called deathclock.com. You can enter your date of birth, whether you smoke and some other facts about your life. The site then calculates your life expectancy. It said that my death day is Sunday, May 9, 2027. That means I have about 23 years to go. Of course, God alone knows how long we have to live. But that’s not the point here. The point here is to number your days. 23 x 365 = 8395.
I might not make it that long. My dad died at 68. One of his brothers died at 65. Another died at 45. The average of those deaths is about 60. Is that how much longer I have to live?
You say, “How depressing. Why would you want to calculate that?” Let’s read the rest of the verse.
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
We don’t want to run from this idea that our days are numbered. In the days we have left, we want to be wise enough to give ourselves to what counts. It’s foolish to spend your energy on things that don’t matter and leaving only leftover energy for things that do.
Get with God.
Get alone with God and ask Him what kind of person He wants you to be by this time next year.
Ask for help.
Ask the people in your circle of influence what they would say are the top three areas of growth for you – the changes they would like to see you make during the next year.
Write things down.
Make a list of the benefits of changing and put it someplace where you will see it every day.
Stop some stuff.
Make a “not-to-do” list.
Find some friends.
Surround yourself with people who will encourage you. We don’t do what’s expected. We do what’s inspected.
Pray in faith.
Ask God to give you the grace to give your family a new dad/husband, wife/mother, son or daughter – to give your friends and co-workers a new you.
How you spend your days will determine whether you live a God-honoring life or not –whether you’ll be more satisfied at the end of 2005 than you are today. You have the freedom to waste every single day of 2005. You also have the privilege of investing every single day of 2005.
Teach us to understand how many days we have. Then we will have a heart of wisdom to give You.
Psalm 90:12 (NLV)
5. Ask God for grace. vv. 13-15
In His holiness and justice, God has every right to make our lives short and full of sorrow. We are sinners. But we can ask God for grace. Moses does that here.
Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!
This is a prayer – a prayer for God to show pity on us.
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Psalm 90:13-15
Balance it out, Lord. Even out the scale. We’ve known affliction and evil. Balance it out. Give us as many days of Your steadfast love that cause us joy and gladness as we’ve known of Your justice that have caused us sorrow.
The Psalm starts out bleak and harsh but ends with hope. God’s steadfast love is for sin-shortened lives. Even sin-stained lives can find God’s grace.
6. Join God’s work in the world. vv. 16-17
Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.
We praya Henry Blackaby-type prayer, "God, you are working in this world. Show me what You are doing. Let me see it and join You. Give me the power to join You and get things done."
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
Psalm 90:16-17 (ESV)
I like the translation that says, “Give permanence to the work of our hands.” Let us do something that outlasts us. Let us leave a living legacy.
We are shaped for God’s service. The Bible has a word for this and it is “ministry.” When we think of minister many of us think of a pastor or a priest – someone who wears a collar or a robe. But the Bible says that every believer is a minister. Not every believer is a pastor, but every believer is a minister. Ministry simply means that you are using your SHAPE to help someone else.
In 2005, find your niche. Join some ministry team. Join God’s work in this world. I’m not simply suggesting that you just volunteer for something. This is about strategically connecting with your Savior and His purposes in this world. This isn’t about being on a list – but on a mission.
As Rick Warren says, "Life’s value is not its duration but its donation!”
This past week, I read a story about three demons who were arguing over the best way to destroy the church. The first demon said, “Let’s tell all believers there is no heaven. Take away the reward and the church will collapse.” The second demon said, “No. Let’s tell all the Christ-followers there is no hell. Take away the fear of punishment and the church will collapse.” The third demon said, “There’s a better way. Let’s tell people in the church that there is no hurry.” And the other two said, “That’s it! All we have to do is tell them there’s no hurry and the whole Christian church will collapse.”
