WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.640 A prayer of Moses, the man of God. 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.300 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 00:00:23.019 --> 00:00:24.500 Before the mountains were brought forth, 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:26.879 wherever you had formed the earth and the world, 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:29.580 from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:32.200 You return man to dust and say, 00:00:32.340 --> 00:00:33.640 Return, O children of man. 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:37.480 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday, 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:39.960 when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.019 You sweep them away as with a flood. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:46.120 They are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning. 00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:48.420 In the morning it flourishes and is renewed. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:50.740 In the evening it fades and withers. 00:00:51.340 --> 00:00:53.379 For we are brought to an end by your anger. 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:55.000 By your wrath we are dismayed. 00:00:55.400 --> 00:00:57.840 You have set our iniquities before you, 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.120 our secret sins in the light of your presence. 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:03.240 For all our days pass away under your wrath. 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:05.680 We bring our years to an end, like a sigh. 00:01:06.320 --> 00:01:09.540 The years of our life are 70, or even by a reason of strength 80. 00:01:10.140 --> 00:01:11.880 Yet their span is but toil and trouble. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:14.060 They are soon gone, and we fly away. 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:18.840 Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you? 00:01:19.460 --> 00:01:22.240 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:24.659 Return, O Lord, how long? 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:26.400 Have pity on your servants. 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:29.560 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:32.280 that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 00:01:33.240 --> 00:01:35.879 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:38.340 and for as many years as we have seen evil. 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:42.780 Let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children. 00:01:44.420 --> 00:01:46.640 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:49.159 and establish the work of our hands upon us. 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:51.640 Yes, establish the work of our hands. 00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:01.780 A common argument for the moral benefits of not believing in God 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:04.640 and not believing in afterlife is that death will be more meaningful 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.259 because our time is short and there's no other opportunity. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:13.139 And so if I only have 80 years total rather than 80 years plus all eternity, 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:15.639 it would change directly how I make decisions, 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:17.500 what voice I use, different things like that. 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:20.300 Carl Sagan, who's a popular astronomer, 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:22.080 who's somewhere between atheist and agnostic, 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:23.139 said at one point, 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:25.500 I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:28.439 that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. 00:02:29.020 --> 00:02:30.379 But as much as I want to believe that, 00:02:30.379 --> 00:02:33.900 and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions of a certain afterlife, 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:36.980 I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:40.120 But if death is nothing more than endless, dreamless sleep, 00:02:40.540 --> 00:02:41.659 this is a forlorn hope. 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:45.700 Maybe this perspective has given me a little extra motivation to stay alive. 00:02:46.140 --> 00:02:48.480 The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth 00:02:48.480 --> 00:02:50.860 that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories 00:02:50.860 --> 00:02:52.280 for which there is little good evidence. 00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:55.000 Far better, it seems to me, in our vulnerability, 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:57.400 is to look death in the eye and be grateful every day 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:00.460 for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides. 00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:04.920 I think that this is a reasonable idea, 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:07.420 but I think that it's one that's been co-opted from Christianity. 00:03:08.100 --> 00:03:11.700 And I think that often we think that Christianity disagrees with this 00:03:11.700 --> 00:03:15.439 in saying that everlasting life makes you more joyful 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:17.020 and you don't have to worry about death. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:19.300 But I think Solt 90 kind of stares that in the face 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:23.379 and says that we actually gain wisdom by considering and numbering our days. 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.400 And Christianity actually agrees with the general line of thought 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:32.719 that Carl seconds on, that counting our days leads to more wisdom. 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:34.819 And the question is, 00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:38.819 why does morbosus reflecting on mortality benefit a Christian? 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:40.159 Okay. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:52.859 So in Solt 90, we're just considering, 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:55.539 like, why does the morbosus of death, 00:03:55.859 --> 00:03:58.139 like, and reflecting on that really benefit us as Christians? 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:00.979 And I think that the answer that the psalm gives is that 00:04:00.979 --> 00:04:05.319 reflecting on the sobriety of death gives fear of God. 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:08.840 And that comes from both considering God's eternality, 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:10.799 that he's always existed and always will, 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:12.599 and also his judgment as well. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:16.139 And so the first half of the psalm alternates 00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:18.600 between reflecting on God's eternality and judgment. 00:04:19.219 --> 00:04:21.879 There are many contrasts showing things that last a long time 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:22.740 versus things that don't. 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:24.980 So it starts out in verse 1 and says, 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:27.300 God is a dwelling place for generations. 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:31.159 So thinking of multiple people living in the same place. 00:04:31.159 --> 00:04:33.039 So, like, through death, he continues. 00:04:33.620 --> 00:04:37.140 It's pretty explicit in verse 2 that God exists before people do. 00:04:37.960 --> 00:04:39.580 From before we were created, God was there. 00:04:41.140 --> 00:04:43.160 Mountains, which are kind of a longstanding legacy 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:44.860 and not something that changes very frequently, 00:04:45.260 --> 00:04:46.020 are compared to God, 00:04:46.100 --> 00:04:48.840 while men are compared to grass that waste away, basically. 00:04:49.340 --> 00:04:51.540 So, like, grass in a dry area that would wither up quickly. 00:04:52.640 --> 00:04:54.500 And the final comparison to verse 4 00:04:54.500 --> 00:04:56.420 is sort of that, you know, a thousand years, 00:04:56.420 --> 00:05:01.000 which is roughly 10 to 15 generations of a family, 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.720 is but a night or a passing memory in God's mind. 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:05.939 Like, it just flies by. 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:06.399 It's nothing. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.120 And I think, you know, man, in contrast to all this eternality 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:15.220 in verse 10 is laid out to live a life of at most 70 or 80 years. 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:17.579 This is kind of a normal lifespan for us 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:18.779 just because of medical advances. 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:21.300 But back in Moses' time, 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:24.439 that would have been a pretty big feat to live that long. 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:26.399 It would have been, like, living to 100 or something like that. 00:05:27.039 --> 00:05:29.779 So I think that he's pushing it and saying, you know, 00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:32.739 this is the most we can live, and it's still not very much, 00:05:33.359 --> 00:05:35.959 which I think is true, whether it's 80 or 100, honestly. 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:40.659 And I think that there's the reflection on the temporality of man, 00:05:40.859 --> 00:05:43.799 but there's also just intertwined with that the reflection that, you know, 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:46.060 the fact that we're temporary is not normal. 00:05:46.159 --> 00:05:47.560 It's actually a curse on us. 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:50.219 And so Moses weaves in talking about sin, 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:51.899 and it's in God's wrath against it. 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:57.000 But so we find in the years fly quickly by in verse 4 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:00.519 because in verse 5 God sweeps them away as a flood, 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:02.679 like a quickly fading dream. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:09.259 We die in verse 8 because our iniquities are set before God. 00:06:10.719 --> 00:06:15.239 This is very much calling back to Genesis when man fell, 00:06:15.599 --> 00:06:17.339 and when man was created, man was created eternal. 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:22.339 And when Adam brought sin into the world, then temporality was introduced. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.219 And so death and judgment are very closely intertwined here. 00:06:27.099 --> 00:06:28.639 And all of this culminates in a question. 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:31.639 Who considers the power of your, in verse 11, 00:06:31.799 --> 00:06:35.659 who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you? 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:43.899 And I think that the answer of that question is kind of like someone who considers God does, right? 00:06:43.899 --> 00:06:48.359 But kind of the subtext of that is like we don't instinctively stop to consider that. 00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:51.579 Like he's kind of asking the question because it's not something people instinctively consider. 00:06:52.099 --> 00:06:55.319 I don't think that we stop to consider bad circumstances unless they're right in front of us, 00:06:55.379 --> 00:06:56.120 just humanly speaking. 00:06:56.799 --> 00:06:59.479 It's really not natural to process things that are far off. 00:06:59.539 --> 00:07:01.479 If a car is about to run you over, you're going to jump out of the way. 00:07:02.859 --> 00:07:05.299 But if you're in the first half of your life, 00:07:05.339 --> 00:07:08.539 you might not spend much time at all thinking about the fact that you're going to die eventually. 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:13.260 And then when it faces us, when we do face death, 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:16.260 different people use different phrases to kind of soften it. 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:19.920 So you hear phrases like death with dignity, like making a choice in your death, 00:07:20.400 --> 00:07:22.720 for those that might not believe in everlasting life. 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:26.120 Or, you know, a Christian phrase I hear a lot is just kind of like, 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:29.900 I'm passing through this life into another so I don't have to worry about too much. 00:07:31.379 --> 00:07:36.200 And I think that the problem with both of those is that they sidestep the instruction of verse 12 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:37.779 that says teach us to number our days. 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:42.599 And the instruction of verse 11 that says consider the power of God's anger and his wrath. 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.459 I think that facing the truth is a good thing. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.159 I think that we all implicitly know that. 00:07:50.159 --> 00:07:53.039 If you think about kind of careers that you, 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:57.319 or careers that get the genre or the veneer of respect versus those that don't. 00:07:58.099 --> 00:08:00.339 So journalists are usually considered universally good 00:08:00.339 --> 00:08:03.879 because they expose things that are not good and they help bring justice. 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:09.259 Because we, consulting, a good consultant usually will say things 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:11.279 even if they're not what the person wants to hear at the time. 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:14.199 You pay somebody to consult you so that you can hear the things you don't see. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.659 You might not like it, but that's truth and that's a good thing. 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.199 Careers like being a politician or a lawyer, 00:08:21.459 --> 00:08:25.259 where the stigma is that the truth is manipulated to make things happen, 00:08:25.659 --> 00:08:26.879 are generally frowned upon. 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:29.100 Similar if you sell something, right? 00:08:29.159 --> 00:08:31.519 I think that you're just motivated just to sell something to me. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:32.840 I don't think that you're being honest with me. 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:36.420 And so I think that we know that the truth is good 00:08:36.420 --> 00:08:39.360 even when it doesn't sit well with us necessarily. 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:40.660 Hearing the right thing is good. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.480 And I think that when we consider and hear the right thing 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.540 that our days are numbered, 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:49.639 it gives us integrity, right? 00:08:49.660 --> 00:08:50.600 We're being honest with ourselves. 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:52.780 And it's also self-beneficial. 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:54.860 It brings about that wisdom that God gives. 00:08:54.940 --> 00:08:57.560 It gives us a clear mind to make decisions on things. 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.639 And I think that kind of shows up in verse 12. 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:07.519 So having reflected on human mortality and kind of the facts of life 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:12.459 really informs how Moses prays for himself and for God's people. 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:17.519 And so his prayer is really grounded in everything he's reflected on previously 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:18.920 that's just kind of true about humanity. 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:24.180 He says, you know, he asked for a special favor to be satisfied in the morning 00:09:24.180 --> 00:09:30.139 in verse 14 and not wither, basically, but rejoice in all days. 00:09:30.259 --> 00:09:32.440 So like earlier on, it says like the grass grows up in the morning, 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:33.740 but then it withers later in the day. 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.780 Moses specifically prays like give us that nourishment in the morning, 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:38.540 but continue it with us for the rest of our lives. 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:43.959 He asked in verse 15 to make us glad for as many days as you've afflicted us, 00:09:44.079 --> 00:09:46.559 which is kind of implied as many days afflicted in life. 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:49.599 And back in verse 10, we talk about toil and trouble. 00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:55.159 He asked to see in verse 16, he asked to see God's glorious power. 00:09:55.620 --> 00:09:58.899 Just earlier on, it's, you know, God's power is also what powers his anger. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:01.219 But he asked from that, no, show me your power. 00:10:01.319 --> 00:10:02.480 Let me consider these things rightly. 00:10:02.599 --> 00:10:03.939 Let me see all of who you are, God. 00:10:03.940 --> 00:10:10.660 And then in verse 17, he asked for his works to be established like God is, honestly. 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:13.520 So when he says, you know, establish the work of our hands upon us, 00:10:14.060 --> 00:10:16.580 he's saying, you know, I want to do things. 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:19.800 God, I want you to take our work and bring it past the point where I'm alive, 00:10:19.880 --> 00:10:21.220 like to affect future generations. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:23.480 Because we don't survive for future generations, 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:28.280 but our good influence or the deeds that we do might last past that with God's favor. 00:10:28.800 --> 00:10:30.160 And so he specifically asked for that. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:35.740 And so I think that one benefit that shows up here initially is that clarity of death 00:10:35.740 --> 00:10:37.659 gives us clarity in conversing with God. 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:42.519 In James, it says the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 00:10:43.339 --> 00:10:48.059 And I think that it takes being righteous is being in the right or being just. 00:10:48.439 --> 00:10:52.539 And it takes both integrity of thought as well as integrity of action to pray justly. 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:57.459 And so since death is a real thing and it happens to all of us, 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:01.799 I think that there's implication that this prayer is informed by that and powerful because of that, 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:03.459 because he's stopping to reflect on reality. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:10.819 That same verse in James where it says the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective 00:11:10.819 --> 00:11:14.679 talks about Elijah who prayed for a drought for three and a half years 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:16.519 and it did not rain for three and a half years. 00:11:16.719 --> 00:11:18.860 And then when no one thought it was going to rain again, 00:11:19.199 --> 00:11:21.039 he was able to pray and it started raining again. 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:25.839 And so I think that that clarity of thinking rightly provides us those righteous prayers 00:11:25.839 --> 00:11:27.919 and allows God to provide for us. 00:11:29.339 --> 00:11:33.179 And I think that verse 17 also points towards kind of the Christian answer 00:11:33.179 --> 00:11:37.259 to the brevity of life and life being short. 00:11:37.740 --> 00:11:41.419 So we might think that if we didn't believe in an afterlife, 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:46.120 we would be more motivated to achieve well in this life because our time is limited. 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:52.299 But I think that that assumes that the 80 years here don't carry the effect that they do. 00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:57.720 I think it's pretty clear in the Bible that the actions that we take carry over into heaven. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.779 There's many spots where it talks about people being honored for what they've done 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:05.980 or parables where someone's given five talents and they produce five more. 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:08.019 And so when God welcomes into his kingdom, 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:10.580 which is kind of implying death at that point, 00:12:10.659 --> 00:12:12.779 he says, I'm blessing you for the work that you've done. 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:16.620 And so I think that we often kind of hear the phrase, 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.299 like I'm just passing through or like I'm not taking anything with me. 00:12:19.379 --> 00:12:21.980 And like that's typical, can be typical Christian speak. 00:12:22.459 --> 00:12:24.399 I think that that, I think we actually take a lot with us. 00:12:25.199 --> 00:12:30.339 And I think that it kind of, C.S. Lewis talks about an idea of like transposition, 00:12:30.699 --> 00:12:35.699 that things that we create here will almost be recreated in heaven. 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:40.700 And so the good that we do, that God carries that over and honors that and sees that. 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:44.600 I would always illustrate this with when I would do youth group lessons, 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:49.620 I would have a kid draw like in a minute their favorification spot or something like that. 00:12:50.100 --> 00:12:51.740 And so I'd be like, okay, you got to hold it up now. 00:12:51.800 --> 00:12:55.379 And it's like, you know, a really bad drawing of a cabin by a mountain or something like that. 00:12:55.660 --> 00:12:56.580 And I'm like, what is that? 00:12:56.800 --> 00:12:58.600 They're like, well, that's the cabin by the mountain. 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:01.440 And I'm like, okay, what's better? 00:13:01.540 --> 00:13:03.440 The picture, your one minute picture of the cabin by the mountain 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.720 or actually being there and seeing the cabin by the mountain? 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:07.360 Obviously being there. 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:12.420 But we understand that the cabin by the mountain is still drawn there and it exists. 00:13:13.100 --> 00:13:14.480 But the fullness of it is better. 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:20.040 And I think that's as close of an analogy as we're going to get to how we live today 00:13:20.040 --> 00:13:23.019 and considering our years well, carrying over into the next life. 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:25.420 That we take feeble actions here. 00:13:25.540 --> 00:13:26.240 We try to help people. 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:27.220 We try to serve others. 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:28.660 We try to care for the poor. 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:30.940 The orphans and the widows, as the Bible instructs. 00:13:32.160 --> 00:13:33.180 And we do what we can. 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:38.259 And by the grace of God, he just enlightens that and enlarges that as we get to heaven. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.820 And he sees, through Jesus, he sees our actions as much greater 00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:45.080 and interprets that out into its fullness, basically. 00:13:45.620 --> 00:13:49.860 And so even though we have many years to consider, past 80, 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:54.320 I think that the time that we spent here is worth considering as we see in the psalm 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:57.200 and gives us that wisdom to see what we do here really does carry on. 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:57.840 into eternity. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:13:58.840 Thank you.