Teach Us to Number Our Days

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Chez, and we are going to be reading Psalm 90 together,

if you'd like to get your Bibles out.

Psalm 90.

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

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.

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's past, or as a watch in the night.

You sweep them away as with a flood.

They're 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.

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.

For all our days pass away under your wrath.

We bring our years to an end like a sigh.

The years of life are 70,

or even by reason of strength, 80.

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?

So, teach us to number our days,

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

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.

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.

Let the favour of the Lord, our God,

to be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands upon us.

Yes, establish the work of our hands.

This is the Lord's word.

Amen.

Good morning.

Hi.

My name is Bo,

one of the elders in the church.

Yes, this is the holiday time,

so we would have a different series,

and today is the first of the series on prayer.

There will be four of them.

Sam Gorek would do the second one next week,

and after that Adam Collison,

the third one,

and then Don McMarie would do the fourth one

in the four weeks.

Hopefully, through this talk on prayer,

the talks on prayers,

that we would learn how to pray,

what to pray during the new year.

Okay, let's pray first then.

Father God,

we thank you that we could gather today

as we consider your word.

May it help us to focus on you,

on your kingdom,

and to yearn for the coming of your kingdom.

May it help me to speak your word,

and for each of us to learn

and to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ,

for in his name we pray.

Amen.

I'm not sure what sort of years,

or what sort of year you all have.

I suppose there will be highlights

and challenges,

and some of us may have more challenges

than others.

Today, the message is more for people

who have experienced challenges

during the year,

and how we could cope with that.

As a church, though,

we do have highlights.

I mean, for this year,

we have had the church camp.

I think many people enjoy that together,

and also we have witnessed

a number of baptisms as well.

And for challenges,

I would think the biggest one

will be people leaving us,

going away for various reasons.

And today, we will be interviewing

Tom and Tianan,

because they will be moving away after this.

But today, in Psalm 90,

we hope to see how,

what Moses prays about

towards the end of his life,

because Moses' life was full of challenges,

a lot more than many of us do.

Actually, today,

we have a visitor with us,

Catherine Gibbons' good friend,

Carleen.

Welcome, Carleen.

Why I mention her?

Because I'm sure her life

was full of challenges,

because she fell from a horse,

15 years old,

had broken her spinal cord,

or injured her spinal cord.

The doctor said that

she would not walk again,

and for sure,

she won't walk again.

But she worked very, very hard.

And we are seeing in Mariko

that she's walking and doing things.

I mean, her life has not been easy.

There's lots and lots of

medical problems, challenges.

But somehow,

through the difficulty

that she's gone through,

the Lord has just renewed her,

not only the body,

but more so as a person,

a new person in Christ.

And we are seeing the same,

I think,

from the psalm in Moses.

Before we even talk about the psalm,

we have been hearing about Moses

the last few months.

Let's consider what sort of life

Moses has had.

In terms of highlights,

I suppose the highlights

that he mentioned

will be in Exodus 15,

when he wrote the song

of rejoicing

because of the deliverance

and the drowning

of the Egyptian soldiers.

That was about it.

You can imagine

he was born

during a time when

all the Israelite boys,

baby boys,

were to be drowned.

And the family

was under a lot of stress

for that.

And eventually,

he was rescued in the river

by the princess of Egypt.

But then,

she'd been separated

from his own family,

from birth,

from three months old.

And growing up

in the palace,

we can imagine

he would be

the odd one out.

Not only the odd one out,

he was the son of the slave.

What sort of life

would he have?

Even though

his adopted mother

would have protected him

and loved him

so that he could grow up there.

But I could imagine

he would have no friends.

He would have gone

through a lot of

bullying by other children,

I suppose.

And then,

when he grew up,

I suppose that's why

he didn't become an Egyptian.

His heart was still

with the Israelites.

And when he grew up,

40 years old,

he wanted to do something.

Maybe he wants to,

because he learned

all the skills,

ways of organizing things,

he might want to organize

these people

to be united.

and to,

not to suffer

so much

under the Egyptians.

But he didn't

anticipate that

his own people

actually rejected him

after he tried

to do something.

I mean,

how do you feel

when you,

when you stick your leg out

and want to

do something for,

for them,

not appreciated,

except,

instead,

they said,

who selected you,

elected you as our leader.

So he ran away,

and in median,

at least he found

the family that adopted him,

and so he settled down

as a shepherd,

just caring for the

father-in-law's animals

for 40 years.

he's,

at 80 years old,

he was still doing

his father-in-law's business.

I could,

for most people,

I suppose you will have

your own business by then,

your own flocks.

But I suppose he could be just,

he's given up,

whatever,

he just go on.

I suppose he was looking

for retirement,

maybe thinking of

buying caravan

to travel around

with the wife.

But then,

God appeared again

and,

and told him

to go back to Egypt.

That's the last thing

that he wanted to do.

I mean,

he,

at this age,

he just didn't want to have

any more challenges,

any adventures,

or whatever.

He just have,

he just want to have

a retirement life.

So he told,

asked God to send

somebody else.

But then God said,

you are the somebody else.

He,

somehow,

he got no choice.

God did send Aaron,

gave him some comfort,

at least he got a family member

to go back with.

And when he went back

and talked to Pharaoh,

he was kicked out of Paris.

and his people

also rebuked him

for making their life harder.

How would you feel?

How would Moses feel?

I told you,

God,

I told you that this

would not work.

Why do you still

do this

to me?

So,

but,

somehow,

Moses just

went on

from there.

from,

he becomes stronger

in his faith

instead of weaker.

So he

let the people

out of Egypt.

Then,

I thought he

might be thinking,

oh,

my life would be

simpler now

or easier now

after leading

the people

out of Egypt.

But you can imagine,

it actually becomes

harder

because the Israelites

were,

in some way,

maybe worse

than the Egyptians

in terms of

their demands

or things

and

complaints.

And so,

his life

wasn't

easier.

And then,

eventually,

they reached

the promised land

and at the border,

Moses could be thinking,

now,

we've gone in there,

I can

complete my task

and

finally retire.

But what happened?

They refused

to go in

and then Moses

found that he

had got

another 40 years

of work

around the wilderness.

And during that time,

many of his people

died.

All the people

that he knew

as adults,

including his

sister Miriam,

brother Aaron,

as you get older,

we will get

lonelier and lonelier

if you are the only one

left behind.

If you calculate,

if there are

600,000

people

out

going out

and for them

all die

in the 40 years,

you need to

have a funeral

every

half an hour

for all these

people to die out.

What sort of life

there is?

So,

you can imagine

how bad

it is.

But,

it's not the worst thing.

The worst thing

was that

Moses found that

he could get into

the promise

than himself.

It's not even,

I mean,

sort of his fault,

but it was

because he

become too

angry with

the people's

rebellion.

And Moses,

yeah,

really felt that.

So,

what sort of

prayer would you

pray

with a life

like this?

He might have

prayed like

Jeremiah did.

What did

Jeremiah pray

in Jeremiah 27?

He said,

Oh Lord,

you have

deceived me

and I am

deceived.

You are

stronger than I

and you have

prevailed.

I have become

a laughingstock

all the day.

Everyone

mocks me.

You can feel

for Jeremiah

as a prophet.

He wanted

to serve God,

but his life

turned out to be

very,

very bad

in that sense.

so he

prayed like

that.

Or Psalm 73

asks us

in verse 13,

14,

he said,

In when

I have

kept my

heart clean

and washed

my hands

in innocence,

for all

the day

long,

I have

been stricken

and rebuke

every morning.

Sometimes

when we

try to

serve God,

things

become

worse

rather than

better

or things

didn't

come as

expected.

But when

we look at

Psalm 90,

Moses didn't

pray like

this.

He's

much closer

to God

even than

Jeremiah

and

Esther

by his

older age.

What he

said,

he said,

Lord,

you have

been our

dwelling place

for all

generations.

Before

the mountains

were brought

forth,

or ever

you have

formed the

earth and

the world,

from everlasting

to everlasting,

you are God.

What is he

praying?

He's saying

that,

first of all,

in relation to

God,

God is a

source of

his being,

or everybody's

being.

He's the

dwelling place.

Without God,

there's no

other things.

Or even

if there's

other

existence,

it wouldn't

have any

meaning in

it without

God,

because God

is the

source,

he's the

dwelling place.

Dwelling

place also

can mean a

refuge,

and so it

is also a

place of

protection,

of help.

And so

when our

life is

difficult,

if we

blame God

and run

away from

God,

it is,

I think,

the worst

thing that

we can do,

because he

is our

dwelling place,

our refuge,

and if we

don't run

to him,

we are

cutting

ourselves

off from

the only

help that

we will

have.

And we

notice that

when he

adored God,

he didn't

actually,

like most

of us

would do,

which is

right to

do,

praise God

for his

being God

of love,

or God

of righteousness,

or something

else.

But there's

one thing

that's enough,

is that from

everlasting to

everlasting,

you are

God.

To him,

God is

so,

so,

so big

that

that is

enough for

him to

say that

you are

God,

you are

my God,

regardless of

how my

life turned

out.

That could

be because

when God

first appeared

to Moses,

God said,

I am

who I

am.

I have

no beginning,

I have

no end.

I am

the origin

of everything

else.

And that

Moses grew

through his

experience to

know God

as that

God that

is,

even in a

sense,

even if God

is not a

God of love,

or a God

of righteousness,

I mean,

that is not

possible,

but even if

that is the

case,

Moses will

still submit

himself to

this God

because he

is the

origin of

everything.

And in

comparison to

man,

which is so

frail,

what did he

say about

man?

He said,

you return

man to

dust and

said,

return,

O

children of

man,

for a

thousand years

in your

sight,

about like

as yesterday

when this

passed,

like watching

the night,

and you

sweep them

away as

a flood.

They are

like a

dream,

like grass

that is

renewed in

the morning,

in the

morning it

folishes and

renews,

in the

evening it

fades and

wetters.

And that's

how he

understands

about life.

First of

all,

it is

very

transient,

like a

grass,

a plant

that lives

only for

one day.

But even

he said,

even if

you live

for a

thousand

years,

it is

still very

short.

It's like

one day

in God's

eye,

to

eternity.

And

man are

made from

dust.

All the

matters in

this world

will not

last.

Anything

that is

only

make of

matters,

matters like

dust.

We don't

last on

its own

without

God's

help.

We know

that since

Adam and

Eve rebelled

against God

and kicked

out of the

Garden of

Eden,

then we

lost that

communication

with God.

We lost

that part of

life that

we supposed

have in

God.

But without

that relationship

with God,

we lose

that life.

So we

are left

with only

the material

thing that

will deteriorate

and that

will last.

And

obviously,

it is

worse than

that because

we rebelled

since Adam

and Eve.

If we

rebelled

against God,

we also

re-inherit

the same

nature.

And so

it is

God who

said return.

So it's

not only

a natural

decay,

but also

God has

view that

we shouldn't

live

forever.

You can

imagine why

because

if we

all want

to be God

ourselves

and we

all live

forever,

it wouldn't

be a

world

paradise.

you'll

be held

because

everybody

just

try to

do

their

own

things

and

fight

against

God.

And it's

actually

God's

mercy

that

people

don't

live

forever

in their

natural

state.

love.

So he

goes on

and

talks about

sin and

the wrath

of God

from

verse

7.

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

life of

your

presence.

for all

our days

pass away

under your

wrath.

We bring

our days

to an

end like

a sigh.

The years

of our

life are

seventy,

or even

by reason

of strength

eighty,

yet they're

spent

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?

when we

look at

people in

the world

or even

look at

our life

before we

come to

Christ,

it's hard

to imagine

that people

understand

a sense

that they

live under

the wrath

of God.

It's

everybody

or people

just

try to

get the

maximum

enjoyment

from life

and have

no

consideration

about

anything

about

God

or about

their life

at the

end.

However,

for most

people,

I think

as we

get older,

at least

for me,

after sixty

years old,

if we

do look

back

to

our

life,

many

of us

would

sigh,

wouldn't

it?

because

there's

many

things

that we

wanted

to do

or plan

to do,

we

couldn't

do

or

didn't

do

or

didn't

do

a good

work

of it.

Or even

if we

succeeded

in our

plan,

it wasn't

satisfactory.

Many

things

when I

was younger

I thought

it's

important,

I must

have,

but now

looking

back,

there

were

nothing

much.

You

start

wondering

why

you

put so

much

time

and

effort

onto

those

things.

And

your

life,

our

life

seemed

to

come

into

an

end

where

you

can

just

sigh,

that's

life,

couldn't

do

anything

more

than

that,

is there

any

meaning

in it?

not

many

people

would

realize

that

life

like

this

is

because

of

God's

anger

and

because

we

have

lost

our

relationship

with

God.

And

God

said

you

have

set

iniquities

before

you,

our

secret

sins

and

lies

of

your

presence.

Imagine

how

annoying

it is,

if you

were

God,

to

be

knowing

and

seeing

all the

sins

that have

been

committed

second

by

second.

Millions

of

things

are

happening.

It's

like

if

you

have

many

flies

inside

your

house

that

keep

troubling

you.

even

though

we

feel

that

God

is

like

a

big

brother

watching

us,

but

do

you

think

that

God

enjoys

doing

that?

In

the

sense

that

even

our

secret

sins

that

we

think

what

is

in

our

heart

is

before

him

and

he's

aware

of

that.

But

instead

we

ourselves

the

people

are

not

aware

of

that

fact

that

God

knows

all

these

things

and

our

days

are

passing

away

under

his

wrath.

The

years

of

our

life

are

70

even

by

reason

of

strength

80.

So

it

is

a

very

very

short

life

in

the

light

of

eternity.

But

Moses

said

even

so

their

span

is

but

toil

and

trouble.

And

that

is

still

God's

mercy,

isn't

it?

If

our

lives

are

not

toil

and

trouble

like

the

Israelites,

if

they

were

not

slaves

in

Egypt,

then

they

would

not

have

hope

for

a

better

place

to

go

or

better

life.

If

our

life

on

earth

is

very

comfortable,

then

we

would

never

think

about

eternity

or

think

about

God.

And

so

Moses

said,

who

will

conceal

the

power

of

your

anger

and

your

wrath

according

to

the

fear

of

you?

And

then

so he

prayed.

Then

after

saying

that,

he

prayed

for at

least

four

things

in

here.

first

of

all,

he

asked

that

God

would

teach

them

to

number

the

days.

Secondly,

he

asked

God

to

restore

the

love

that's

between

him

and

man.

Fourth

is

to

be

able

to

see

the

work

of

God,

what

God

was

working

on.

And

fourth

is

to

not

to

live

in

vain,

to

just

about

his

own

work

that

is

counted.

He

didn't

want to

live

in

vain.

So

he

started

with

12.

So

teachers

to

number

our

days

that

we

might

get

the

heart

of

wisdom.

So

numbering

our

days

is

not

only

to

count

how

much

time

we

have

to

live.

But

also

to

know

that

there

is

judgment

after

we

die.

It

is

appointed

for

men

to

die

once

and

after

that

comes

judgment.

And

so

numbering

of

days

we

live

wisely

with

the

time

that

we

have.

the

Lord

also

told

us

a

parable

in

Luke

12

18

about

a

rich

farmer

who

said

I've

got

so

much

products

that

I need

to

build

bigger

barns

and

store

up

things.

But

the

Lord

said

fool

your

life

will

be

taken

from

you

tonight.

who

will

inherit

your

or

your

goods

then.

And

that

is

what

Moses

praying

that he

would

not

be

a

fool

in

terms

of

how

he

lives

and

to

know

that

his

days

are

limited.

And

that's

the

start,

isn't it?

If

we

don't

know

that,

we

would

live

on

just

like

everybody

else

enjoying

the

things

of

the

world

and

seeking

for

nothing.

So

this

is

a

starting

point

to

know

that

we

are

limited

in

our

life

on

this

earth

and

also

limited

in

terms

of

what

we

can

do

and

without

God

it

all

makes

not

much

sense.

So

he

continued

to

say

that

return

oh

Lord

how

long

have

pity

on

your

servant

satisfied

us

in

the

morning

with

your

steadfast

love

that

we

might

rejoice

and

be

glad

all

our

days

make

us

glad

for

as

many

days

as

you

have

afflicted

us

and

for

as

many

years

as

you

have

seen

evil.

So

that

prayer

is that

his

life

his

people's

life

will

be

satisfied.

That

means

he's

not

he was

not

satisfied

with

his

life

then

and

he knew

that

there's

something

far

better

God

had

planned

and

he's

asking

for it

and

it's

not

wrong

to ask

God

to

satisfy

us

because

only

him

is

the

one

who

can

satisfy

us

if

we

don't

ask

from

God

then

nothing

else

would

and

it

is

pleasing

to

God

for us

to ask

God

for

their

satisfaction

because

that's

where we

derive

the real

satisfaction

from

he

said

that

make

us

glad

for

as

many

days

as

you

afflicted

us

so

it's

not

I

think

he's

thinking

about

slavery

in

Egypt

and

the

suffering

they have

had

but

in

the

bigger

picture

is

the

suffering

of the

world

since

the

fall

of

mankind

and

even

a

bigger

picture

is

asking

for

the

restoration

that

God

intended

us

to

be

he

did

not

create

people

to

suffer

he

created

people

to

enjoy

him

and

that's

what

Moses

is

saying

and

we

can

only

enjoy

God

when

we

love

God

but

we

can

only

love

God

when

we

know

that

God

loves

us

and

so

here

is

he

asked

satisfy

us

in

the

morning

with

your

steadfast

love

in

the

morning

again

is

a

hope

the

darkness

is

over

the

morning

has

come

and

he

asked

God

to

satisfy

us

with

his

love

and

16

let

your

work

be

shown

to

your

servants

and

your

glorious

power

to

their

children

this

request

is

not only

that

God

will

work

something

more

to

convince

people

but

it's

more

that

people

can

see

God's

work

can