Psalm 90: Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses

Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA INTRODUCTION - In Italy: o 175 new deaths on Saturday, up to 1,441 o 2,795 new cases, up to 21,000 o Contemplating lockdown & quarantine of entire country o Worst situation outside of China - In Spain: o 6,400 cases and 193 deaths o Likewise contemplating lockdown and quarantine - In France: o Cases doubled in the last 72 hours, to 4,500 o 91 deaths o 300 in critical condition; half are under 50 years old - In WA, the last 24 hours: o 55 more confirmed cases, rising from 587 to 642 o Three more deaths, rising to 40 o Worst situation in the nation - In uncertain times like these, Moses has some advice for us o (1) he doesn’t tell us that we’ll be immune from COVID-19 o (2) but, he does tell us that if we know God through Jesus Christ, then we’ll be all right no matter what happens TEXT 1. God is our refuge (vv.1-2) Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations (Ps 90:1). - Dwelling place: refuge, shelter or place of protection o God is always there for anyone who seeks Him - In all generations: Not just now, in 2020, but for all time! o from generation to generation he’s been offering Himself as the solution: 1 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA ▪ (1) for people who wake up and realize that there’s more to life than money, sex, power and career - or even than a combination of all four! ▪ (2) for people who realize there’s more to life than even family, if that’s all they have ▪ (3) for people who realize that we’re hardwired to want more than a transitory existence followed by the eternal blackness of non-existence ▪ (4) for people who realize that their lives, bodies and souls are more than a TV picture that winks out with a click of the remote, vanishing wherever TV pictures go – never to return o and, from generation to generation, God’s also been offering Himself as the refuge: ▪ (1) for people who suddenly realize how small they are in this wasted world ▪ (2) for people who wake up and find themselves helpless in the grip of events bigger than themselves, bigger than their country, bigger than the best, combined efforts of 100 countries o events like: ▪ (1) wars that span the globe twice in 25 years ▪ (2) events like the unchecked evil of a deliberate, mass murder of perhaps 6 million Jewish people that breaks all bounds and shocks the consciences of the world ▪ (3) events like the Black Death pandemic in the mid-14th century that killed perhaps 50% of Europe’s population, and 25% of the world population ▪ (4) events like COVID-19, this latest strain of coronavirus that’s sweeping the globe and disrupting all our lives, in so many ways Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Ps 90:2). - God has been around: o (1) before you were created 2 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA - - - - o (2) before the horrors of the Holocaust, o (3) before two world wars, o (4) before the Black Death killed nearly half the people in the world, borne by fleas on the back of rats on ships from Asia He’s been around: o (1) before the mountains were formed, o (2) before creation was created o (3) from everlasting to everlasting, He is God He’s been around as we in this world: o (1) live our lives, o (2) get married, o (3) have children, o (4) have careers, o (5) know both love and loss, o (6) start wars and finish them, o (7) and sometimes live our entire lives without caring or acknowledging anything about Him And, through it all, He’s there as a refuge for anyone who comes to Him, through His eternal son, Jesus of Nazareth o (1) He’s there as we make a mess of His creation o (2) He’s there as we make our mistakes o (3) He’s there as we ignore Him for sometimes decades, consumed with the tiny bubbles that are our individual lives o (4) He gives us the air we breathe, the shelter we have, the ingenuity that allows us to build so many tech gadgets and fashion a society that can usually inoculate us from the unpleasant realities of sickness, of mortality, of death, of our own smallness and helplessness That’s the theme Moses wants us to get o (1) that’s the point Moses wants us to understand o (2) that’s the perspective Moses wants you to have o (3) that’s the outlook God wants you to have, o (4) as we prepare to close our doors for upwards of two weeks (and likely longer) because of COVID-19 2. Gone with the wind (vv.3-11) 3 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night (Ps 90:3-4). - What does this mean? When you hear these words, what is Moses trying to tell you? o Moses is a unique guy (cf. Ex 33:11; Num 12:8; Deut 34:10) o God says He didn’t speak to him in riddles, like He did with other prophets o Instead, God spoke to Moses plainly, face to face, as a friend o This means that, when Moses has some advice for us, we ought to listen! - This is what it means: o (1) Our lives are quick; like a vapor vanishing in the air, like the soothing scent of Purell hand-sanitizer fading on your hands o (2) He gives us life, and He takes it away o (3) We live for a short while, then we die o (4) a thousand years are like yesterday to God; like one overnight shift at work - What’s Moses’ point? o (1) get some perspective! o (2) look up from your work, from your family, from your children, from your life, from all the blessings you have o (3) and think about your relationship with the Creator who’s given you those blessings, who’s given you life, who sustains your life, who sent Jesus to live, die and rise again for you You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers (Ps 90:5-6). - Whatever you think is so important, it’ll pass away o (1) I have no idea who either of my great-grandfathers was o (2) I don’t know what they did for a living o (3) I don’t know who they married 4 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA o (4) I don’t know what they achieved o (5) I don’t know how much money they made o (6) I don’t even know how many children they had - And, one day, o (1) some man or woman down the line will say and think the exact same thing about you o (2) because this world is temporary o (3) because from everlasting to everlasting, God is God, and we’re only His creation o (4) and our achievements will be forgotten, o (5) and He’ll still be there ▪ where will we be? ▪ where will you be? 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 (Ps 90:7-8). - Why is this life, and everything in it, so temporary, so fleeting? o (1) because our relationship with God is broken o (2) we think and do bad things that break His law o (3) that’s why we’re brought to an end by His anger - That’s why we ought to be terrified because of His wrath – if we ever manage to look up and acknowledge our Creator o our sins are set before Him, laid bare o even our secret sins are neatly catalogued and indexed o without Christ, God looks at you and sees the sum total of your sins, crimes, law-breaking and failures o without Christ, the sum of our life, experiences, achievements and triumphs in this life are swept away like a cardboard box before a tsunami; like a dream, like it never happened - But, He also sees more than that o He sees someone for whom He’s willing to be a perfect savior o He sees someone He’s willing and eager to rescue and redeem - Moses now finishes explaining about perspective in light of eternity: For all our days pass away under your wrath; 5 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA we bring our years to an end like 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. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you (Ps 90:9-11) - Sigh: despite everything we are, and despite everything we achieve, o it all comes down to that last whimper, groan or sigh before we die o but God never dies, and neither does the one who trusts in Jesus of Nazareth - Who considers … : so many people don’t; so many people won’t o If we did consider God’s anger and wrath, along with His love for us despite ourselves, then we’d listen to Moses 3. Getting a heart of wisdom (vv.12-17) So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12). - Number our days: look up and get some perspective - Wisdom: live in light of eternity, o (1) live with wisdom that says the most important thing in the world is my relationship and standing with God o (2) live with wisdom that says my life and all the things I value so much here is temporary; a quick blip on the radar screen of eternity; a dream that’s here one moment and forgotten one hour later o (3) live with wisdom that takes the advice that Solomon figured out so long ago, when he made the same mistake: Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, 6 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after (Ecc 1:10-11) - Solomon said: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction,” (Prov 1:7) o It’s easy even for Christians who know better to forget this o Let’s let Moses remind us this morning, and point our hearts and minds back in the right direction Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days (Ps 90:13-14). - Satisfy us: what gives you purpose? o Moses’ plea is actually simpler than that – what makes you happy? o to Moses (a guy who’s seen something of life), happiness, peace and satisfaction is to rejoice in God and His love for us o it ought to be ours, to! Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children (Ps 90:15-16). - Glad … affliction: what a strange request! o this can only be true in your life if you believe God is in charge, in control, and if you’re sure that you belong to Him ▪ (1) do you believe He knew about the Holocaust? ▪ (2) do you believe God knew about the Black Death? ▪ (3) do you believe God knows about COVID-19? ▪ (4) do you believe God upholds, directs and governs everyone and everything, from the greatest even to the least, by his providence, according to His own will, and that 7 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA we ought to trust in His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy?1 - In short, do you believe that God knows what He’s doing in this world? o That’s why Moses asks God to make us glad for the affliction o Glad for the evil we see and suffer o Moses is asking God to make us delight in trusting Him ▪ (1) “God, make us trust you even in the bad times!” ▪ (2) “God, make us ok with your will, whatever it is!” ▪ (3) “God, make us trust you even when we look around at a world turned upside down, and we don’t understand, and we’re scared!” 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 (Ps 90:17). - Establish the work of our hands: make our work for you mean something o (1) make us see the value of what we do for you o (2) make us appreciate our service for you, no matter how small it seems like it is o (3) make us treasure the fruit of our labor o (4) encourage us by blessing our worship, even though it’s imperfect o (5) inspire us by ▪ turning our hearts and minds from our careers, our money, and all the temporary things here that fade like a vapor or a cut flower, ▪ and to the things that really matter CONCLUSION - Why would this man write this? 1 This is a free paraphrase from the 1647 Westminster Confession of Faith (5.1). 8 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA o - He’d write it: o because he has tunnel-vision, o because his heart and mind are blinded by Satan, o because the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ hasn’t ripped that veil away, to show him the terrible fix that he’s in - He’d write it because he’s comfortable: o (1) he’s comfortable with the gadgets, the conveniences, and the freedoms he enjoys in America in 2020 o (2) he’s inoculated against the reality of mortality and death – just like we all are o (3) he’s comfortable with death taking place behind closed doors in hospital wards, in quiet rooms at hospices, and in lonely bedrooms in subdivisions o (4) he’s so comfortable that he doesn’t have to think about the end, about his own death, about the fragility of our little world ▪ the entire Western world is literally shutting down because of COVID-19 ▪ Spain and France are moving towards total lockdown of their entire populations ▪ Italy, a country with a landmass only 1/3 larger than the State of WA, has over 1,500 deaths in just a few weeks and its getting worse - Christians know better, even if we don’t always orient our lives the way ought to in light of it: o (1) let’s follow Moses’ advice o (2) let’s trust God, even in the bad times 9 Pastor Tyler Robbins Gone with the Wind? Some Advice from Moses (Psalm 90) Sunday Morning • 15 March 2020 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church • Olympia, WA (3) let’s repent of our sins, and pray for one another (4) let’s pray for our community (5) let’s pray for the global church (6) let’s pray for our bureaucrats (yes, even for them) at the State and Federal level – it’s always easy to criticize bureaucrats as long as you’re not the one who has to make the decisions! ▪ (a) without civil service employees and a functioning, centralized bureaucracy, this state and this country would literally not function ▪ (b) that’s one reason why the Articles of Confederation were scrapped and replaced by the Constitution o (7) let’s pray for one another o (8) let’s love each other o (9) let’s not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, even though it will be online for two weeks o o o o “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,” (Ps 90:1-2). 10 Pastor Tyler Robbins