Thursday Psalms: You Can Rejoice!

Today's Psalm is not a song of "feel-good" encouragement. This is a psalm of lament The eternal nature & strength of God stands in sharp contrast to the brevity of our lives, which are full of sinfulness, frailty, and weakness. As punishment for the first sins in the garden of Eden, physical, bodily death is unavoidable for all God's creation, including you, me and all people [v 3].

With the last Sunday of the church year quickly upon us, our worship and Bible readings point us to the Last Day, when Jesus Christ will return in triumph, to judge all people and rescue His children. With the Last Day in view, verses 7, 8 and 11 are particularly frightening.

PSALM 90:1-14

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,

from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”

4 For a thousand years in Your sight

are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

5 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.

7 For we are brought to an end by Your anger;

by Your wrath we are dismayed.

8 You have set our iniquities before You,

our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under Your wrath;

we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10 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.

11 Who considers the power of Your anger,

and Your wrath according to the fear of You?

12 So teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Death is God's unavoidable punishment for our sins. We deserve nothing but God's anger, His wrath and His punishment. There is nothing you or I can do, we can't be good enough so God would turn away and not punish our sin.

But God, who IS love, did something about our terrible condition. Check out Romans 5:8 "but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.". Death is God's unavoidable punishment for your sins, so God punished His Son Jesus as He died on Calvary's cross.

Jesus had pity on you. Jesus took your sins and your death upon Himself, setting you FREE from both! God points us in this direction in the next two verses of this psalm:

13 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on Your servants!

14 Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Rejoice! Be Glad! By His steadfast love for you, Jesus Christ satisfied the wrath and anger of His Father, so you can rejoice and be glad all your days! Start today!

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Mark

Pilgrim Lutheran Church, LCMS    Burton, Michigan

office:  810.744.1188     mobile:  248.881.7627

We are Pilgrims with a Purpose:  

     Sharing God’s Love & Mercy with Each Other & the World.

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Soli Deo Gloria

“Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come..."  Psalm 71:3a