You can read Psalm 90 in its entirety at this website, or by googling Psalm 90. We will take a look at a few passages from the psalm.
First, my contemplation on people who are briefly in your life. There have been many people who I have met once or spent a short amount of time with, only to never see or talk to them again. People who you meet and have a short conversation with or do something with. People who you wouldn't mind spending more time with, but never do. For whatever reason, we often come across people like this. We look back at the short time with them and remember it fondly or at least not being a bad time and wish it could have been longer.
3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning-
6 though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.
Moses tells us that our lives are fleeting. From dust we came and to dust we shall return.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 The length of our days is seventy years—
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Moses continues to talk about the shortness of life. 70 years, maybe 80 if we are strong. I find it interesting that this is written thousands of years ago, yet our lives really aren't that much longer. We consider people in their 70s to have lived a long life, if in the 80s or 90s, they have lived a very long life. The few that make it to 100 and considered great people. Thousands of years and all of our knowledge doesn't give us a life too much longer than in Moses' time. Granted he lived 120 years!
How quickly we pass away! One day here on earth, the next dead. Those who know us pass on and all the earth is left with of us is the dirt from our body. Last night at church, the pastor used an illustration of John Lennon. He mentioned that when talking with some of the college students about him, many didn't know who he was or only knew a few songs he wrote. A man as well known as John Lennon, even his memory passes away in only 20-30 years.
12 Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Moses is constantly reminding us of the wrath of God, rightly being brought on us because of our sins. But at the end of the psalm, he tells us to count our days. Make the best of these days. Be welcoming of the work of the Lord and that he will establish the work of our hands.
We have few years on this earth. Some are given only a few years, some many, but more than 100, very few. Even then , 110 or 115 is the maximum for anyone to live today. We do not have many days. Make the most of them. Make the most of the time you do get to spend with people. That doesn't mean to cram as much into the time as possible, but to make the most of it. When you have to opportunity to spend time with someone who you may never see again, make the most of it. Sprinkle your conversation with grace and mercy. Allow God to work through your time, conversation, and action. Our days may be fleeting, but the work of the Lord echoes through eternity. Don't waste your time!
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