Psalm 90 - Lament for the Unintentional Life

Psalm 90 was written by Moses, a man who lived three lives: 40 years as a favored member of Pharaoh’s household, 40 years as a shepherd in a wilderness, and 40 years as the leader of a nation wandering for decades in another wilderness. 

A month or two ago my wife an I were discussing life insurance, because I was starting a new job and filling out endless forms to select the benefits I want. We recalled that during our 20s we, along with some of our idealistic friends, we pretty sure that insurance – especially life insurance – was a form of gambling, and that it might be better if we all just trust in God. 

Of course, even in the midst of those conversations, I had already signed up for the life insurance offered by my employer. I had made the choice to roll the dice that I was going to need it someday. I knew then that my body was full of a wide variety of abnormalities and frailties, and I really didn’t expect to live even to the age of 50. 

Now, at the age of 64, we were discussing whether to sign up to pay a very small amount out of each paycheck for a life insurance policy that will expire at 70. The conversation was really not much different than examining the odds to lay down a Super Bowl bet. 

My parents both lived into their early 80s. My brothers, both older than me, died at 49 and 56. But I’ve lived a healthier life than either of my brothers did. But in spite of that, I’ve already had one heart attack, which none of them did. And I’ve got enough stuff wrong with me now that I qualified as extremely high risk if I were to catch the COVID-19.


One of the truest lines ever written in a song is found in the chorus of Andrew Peterson's Faith to Be Strong: 

Give us faith to be strong, Give us strength to be faithful; 

   This life is not long, but it's hard; 

Give us grace to go on, Make us willing and able; 

   Lord, give us faith to be strong

 "This life is not long, but it's hard."

In Moses’ lament, he agrees wholeheartedly with Andrew Peterson. 

The shortness and frailty of our lives is God-ordained. 

3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” 

4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 

5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning: 

6 In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered. 

Our limited years are weighted down by the guilt we carry and stalked by the judgment of our God.  

7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. 

8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 

9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. 

Moses lived 120 years, most of them surviving in one wilderness after another. He had good reason to know how painstakingly hard life can be. 

10 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 

Moses' lament is not over the difficulties of life or the wrath of God or over the shortness of life. His greatest lament is over our failure to rise above life’s troubles and live each day seeking the heart of God. 

11 If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due. 

12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

He begins and ends his psalm of lament with the keys to a life worth living. 

The best life is lived not in our homes or in our neighborhoods or in our careers. The best place to settle in for the long haul of life is in God himself. 

Throughout most of the scriptures, the combination of God and dwelling place refers to the place where he dwells, in heaven. But here, the greatest dwelling place we can hope for is not heaven, but within the arms of the Almighty. 

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 

2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 

If our intentional, numbered days are spent seeking God’s heart, walking along beside him, he will grant us joy as we travel. Each numbered day will be a pleasure, even while we are afflicted, because we are living for Him. If the work of our lives reflects the work of our Lord, he will make our work something worth everything that makes it hard. 

13 Relent, 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 on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands. 

It’s troubling to think I might have only a handful of numbered days or years left in this world. I don’t want to leave my family, my friends, the small joys and pleasures of this life. And there’s more work I’ve yet to do for God to establish. More days to walk with him and talk with him all along life’s way.

Oh Lord, how long will it be? Have compassion on me, your servant, and on the people who rely on me. And lead me each day to be your servant in everything I do.