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You're listening to audio from Ascend Church. For more information about Ascend or to access more gospel-centered tools to grow as a disciple of Christ, visit AscendKC.org. Well, you know, we've been in the book of the Psalms over the summer taking a break from our series in Revelation, and it has been a blessing to see the intentional progression of God's design in the way that these poems, songs, and prayers have been both written and ordered. Martin Luther, as some of you might know, called the Psalms a mini Bible. And you can see throughout all this entire book the amazing dimly lit room, in a sense, of God's plan for salvation and his pursuit to dwell with his people. The Psalms shed so much light on who God is, his character, and his pursuit of his people. So, just as an aside this morning, let's not ever be tempted to only stay in the New Testament as believers, and in effect, as even some evangelicals want to do today, unhitch ourselves from the Old Testament. Let's, as a people, as believers, immerse ourselves in God's word, the whole council, As it says in Acts 20, 27, the whole counsel of God's words, especially immerse ourselves in the Psalms. I promise you, if you do that, it will bring clarity, it will bring color to the story that God has been writing all throughout history. And you know, if you've spent any time in the Psalms, you'll know that there were multiple writers of the Psalms. Solomon, the sons of Korah, Asaph, There's actually 48 psalms that were anonymous psalms, but when we think of the psalms, who's the first person that comes to mind? David, right? Pretty easy. 73 psalms were attributed to David, but today, We're not gonna do any of those. Today we get to do a special psalm, Psalm 90, this morning. One of my favorite psalms. This is the one and only psalm attributed to Moses. And while not a proven fact because of the 48 other anonymous psalms, most would agree that this is the oldest of all the psalms. And of course you can see very quickly as we look throughout the psalms that they're not put together in chronological order as Chad mentioned a few weeks back. but I believe those who compiled them put them together in a very specific, Holy Spirit-inspired way for us to grow and learn from. You see, the Psalms are made up of five books, as some of you might know, and coming right out of book three, where there is a common theme of much distress from the nation of Israel, a questioning of God and his resolve to keep and protect his people, And actually you can see a great example of that reality in Psalm 74. So you can write that down and go read that Psalm later. But we actually run right into Book 4 and the beginning, which is Psalm 90. I believe there's purpose to this. I believe there is intentionality here. And I believe as we both look at the context of this psalm from Moses, this man of God, and his prayer over the nation of Israel, we will be encouraged, equipped, and challenged both to grow in our understanding of God and his character, and prayerfully live in light of these truths in our lives. Amen? So, all that said, today's message is called Sovereign and Satisfied, out of Psalm 90. But before, this psalm, because it's written by Moses, I thought needs quite a bit of context to help us really dig in and understand where Moses is coming from. So, let's just get a little context of where Moses is at in his life and journey. You know, I thought to do that, and maybe we should just put a bunch of the Prince of Egypt clips up on the screen in one of my favorite movies and just watch those, or maybe just sit back and listen to the amazing soundtrack from Prince of Egypt, but we don't have time for that today, unfortunately. So instead, you'll see a slide behind me that just gives us what I call a little Moses flyover, okay? So, Israel is in Egyptian captivity. Moses is born. At around three months old, his mother puts him in a basket. Pharaoh's daughter finds him and raises him. Later, Moses kills an Egyptian and flees to Midian. All the while, the Israelites are crying out for help in Egypt. Moses is later visited by Yahweh in the burning bush. Moses returns to Egypt, asks Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Pharaoh, of course, refuses, resulting in the 10 plagues. Moses eventually leads Israel out of Egypt. Pharaoh pursues. They cross the Red Sea. Pharaoh's army is killed. And then on to the wilderness. This is where most scholars believe Moses wrote this prayer. Having come out of Egyptian captivity and having entered into a time of wandering in the wilderness. So it's pretty safe to assume that Moses at this point has been through a thing or two in his life, right? He's seen suffering, but yet he has seen God's faithfulness. And he is, as the superscript on the top of Psalm 90 indicates, a man of God. And just as an aside, you can look these verses up later. You'll see the slide behind me. Deuteronomy chapter 33, verse one. Joshua 14, six. Ezra three, two. First Chronicles 23, 14. Second Chronicles 30, 16. Moses is the only person called the man of God in the Torah, or the first five books of the Bible. And you can look at those verses that will show you that to study further. But this is showing his closeness of relationship to God. But here they are in the wilderness, right? How do they respond, having come out of Egypt? How do they respond? Well, if you go back to Numbers 14, which I'm going to reference quite a few times in the sermon, so you can maybe put your finger there, you can see very quickly that Israel rebels. In chapter 14 of Numbers, verse two, Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. And they say in verse three, would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And then Moses tries to reason with them even, and down in verse 10, they want to stone Moses and Aaron. I don't know about you, but at that point, if I were Moses, I would have wanted to throw in the towel. Listen, after all we've been through, after all I've taken you through, that's it, I'm out. You find the promised land on your own. I wanted to play that famous clip by R.C. Sproul where he says, what does he say? What's wrong with you people? That's how I feel like I would, that's how I would feel in that moment after all that they had been through. and then to see this kind of unfolding. But what actually does Moses do? Instead of immediately condemning Israel, he actually intercedes for them. He actually prays for them. In verse 19 of chapter 14, it says, So, with all this context in mind, Psalm 90. The stage is set for the Holy Spirit-inspired prayer from Moses to serve as a reminder to the people of Israel and a reminder for us today who God is, who we are, and our response to those realities. So, finally to the big idea. This is the big idea for this morning. A proper view of God's sovereignty and man's frailty should lead us to a proper satisfaction in our lives. Let me say that one more time. A proper view of God's sovereignty and man's frailty should lead us to a proper satisfaction in our lives. So if you have your Bibles with you, We're gonna go to Psalm 90. If you don't have a Bible with you, you can grab the one in front of you. You'll find Psalm 90 on page 496. If you don't have a Bible at home with you, you can take this one home with you. Read it, study it, and grow. That's our heart for you here at Ascend Church. So let's together dive into the text this morning. We're gonna read the passage from top to bottom so we can kind of understand the flow of the text here this morning, starting in verse one, Psalm 90. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, wherever 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 is past, or as a watch in the night. 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, and 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 our 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. So, we have a lot to get through this morning. Point number one is this, remember God is sovereign. Verse one, Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. God's presence has always ultimately been the dwelling place of his people. Moses starts his prayer with a significant and much needed reminder and theological truth over the people of Israel. Think about how the Israelites probably viewed God's presence and dwelling with him. Don't you think the reality would have started to set in or become an all too distant memory of his presence and dwelling with them? Fading into the background of their minds as they lost hope in the years of captivity or maybe became cynical during their time of wandering in the wilderness. They needed to be reminded that God's sovereign plan has always been to dwell with his people. and that he is not to be replaced by a golden calf or any other idol of worship. So big picture for a moment, think about it. From Eden to Egypt, from the tabernacle, meaning dwelling place, to the temple, or God wrapping himself in human flesh, John 1, 1, to the new covenant temple of the indwelling spirit in every believer, 1 Corinthians 3, 16. And even as we look ahead to Revelation, which we took a break from to be in the Psalms this summer, we see in Revelation 21, verse three, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. In his sovereignty, the Lord has always been our dwelling place, and in every generation, God has been orchestrating his plan to reconcile a people to himself with no barriers or limitations of dwelling with him, amen? So maybe as we begin this morning, ask yourself this question. Has the impact of God's presence faded to the background in your life? Does it feel like a distant memory to you? Maybe you need to remember what the sons of Korah penned in Psalm 46, that God is our refuge or dwelling place, and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Or, what A.W. Tozer said, there'll be a slide on the screen. The man who has made God his dwelling place will always have safe habitation. So, Moses continues in verse two. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Moses reminds us in his prayer of the eternal sovereign nature of God. Before anything existed, before God created the heavens and the earth, he always existed lacking nothing. One can only expect from the suffering of being in Egyptian captivity to the cynicism of a long season of wandering in the wilderness that there would be a huge temptation for the Israelites to diminish the size, the power, and the authority and sovereignty of God. A temptation, as I often say, to be stuck in the well of their own circumstances, neglecting to look up to this big and powerful God. In fact, the reality is mankind will always default in their finite and sinful mind to make God functionally smaller than he actually is. We never get to a place where we have too big a view of God, as if that were even possible. You see, even from outside the faith, looking in, the scientist and astronomer Carl Sagan famously said, your God is too small for my universe. So are you content with a small God? Or are you allowing the scriptures to open your eyes to the everlasting nature and majesty of God, our creator? What an important truth for us to revisit. And some passages to write down and meditate on later to help us own this reality, you'll see in the slide, Isaiah 40, 28. Isaiah 55, eight and nine. And Psalm 147, five. Moses really takes the opportunity to pull off on the side of the road, as it were, and remind the Israelites of the eternal nature and bigness of God. And you know what? These theological truths were important to him. How do I know that? Well, again, if you page back to Deuteronomy chapter 33, Verse 27, he actually reiterates the same truths using the same language in his final blessing to the Israelites before his death in Deuteronomy chapter 34. He says, in verse 27, the eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are his everlasting arms. So he continues to show God's sovereignty by showing God's power over his people in verse three. He says, you return man to dust, and say, return, O children of man. Seemingly here he is referencing back to Genesis 3.19 in the context of the fall, and it says, by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, the perfect union and dwelling place, as we've been talking about, in God's presence was severed. But God still has dominion, God still has control, and God still has a plan. Verse four, we're just gonna march right through. For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. This phrase, watch in the night, is referenced a few other times in the Old Testament, and it talks about these four sections of time where people would keep watch at the gates for enemies. And really the important factor here is that it denotes a short and finite amount of time that the audience would have understood. Verse five, you sweep them away as with a flood. Can you think about any flood imagery in Moses' past? I think this seems to allude to the destruction of the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. 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. So it's like Moses is saying here, don't you see our God is eternal? What's a thousand years to our infinite God, but a speck in time, but a watch in the night. You're over here grumbling and complaining and stuck looking at your past circumstances and maybe the circumstances you're in right now, but our God is eternal. He is over it all. He sees, he knows. God was in control over the deepest, darkest moments in your captivity in Egypt. And he is currently sovereign over the hardships we are facing right now in the wilderness. So these moments in time will sprout and grow up quickly, and then in the next moment they will fade and wither. God is eternal. We must remember that. So when we think about this this morning, maybe you need to do some remembering today. Maybe you're stuck in a cycle of your circumstances growing up and entangling your heart and your mind, and then they wither and fade, and then it's on to the next one. Is that your cycle that you're living in this morning? Maybe you need to remember God's power, remember God's authority and his sovereignty and his control, but also remember his plan to dwell with his people now and into eternity. So maybe let's just take one minute of quiet this morning as we've heard a lot of information and just reflect on those truths. Reflect on his power. Reflect on his sovereignty in your life and reflect on his desire to dwell with you this morning in relationship. Let's just take one moment. Yes, God is sovereign. Yes, God is powerful. Yes, God is loving and desires to dwell with his people, but he is also judge. The side of God we often want to turn a blind eye to. But that leads us to point number two, remember God judges. Verse seven says, for we are brought to an end by your anger, by your wrath we are dismayed. So remember back in Numbers 14, Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and into the wilderness. Then we saw that Israel rebels. Moses then intercedes, even reflecting on the character of God by saying in verse 18 of chapter 14 in Numbers, the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet, if you continue reading in Numbers 14, you see God's judgment come to bear. Specifically in verse 26 through 32, you see that God passes judgment on those who came out of the land of Egypt by proclaiming they would die before entering the promised land. Remember, besides the children that were born after Egyptian captivity, only Caleb and Joshua would see the land. God's judgment and wrath was poured out on the wickedness of the Israelites. God is a God of justice. And while you cannot go very far in the Psalms without running into the steadfast love of the Lord, you also cannot miss God as a righteous judge. And so here are just a few verses for you to chew on later, and I would love for you to write down or take a picture of the screen. And these are just in the Psalms. As you're writing those down, Let's think about this this morning. What must it have been like for Moses to watch the judgment unfold on the nation of Israel as they were delivered out of Egypt only to perish in the wilderness before entering into the promised land? What must that have been like? This was a collective judgment over the nation of Israel for their wickedness, for their idolatry, for their grumbling, and for their lack of faith. The reality is to properly understand God as our refuge or our dwelling place, we must also understand God as our judge. You'll see the slide up on the screen, but Alexander McLaren, a Scottish Baptist preacher said this, we do not understand the full blessedness of believing that God is our refuge till we understand that he is our refuge from all that is destructive. Nor do we know the significance of the universal experience of decay and death till we learn that it is not a result of our finite being, but of sin. That leads right into verse eight, where it says, you have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. Moses seems to even be digging a little bit deeper here than a collective judgment. He is personalizing it to each Israelite. He understands that while God judges the outward acts of disobedience, as is so clearly evidenced by the wickedness of Israel, he also brings the secret sins out of darkness and into the light of his presence. God's judgment doesn't just fall on Israel. or on America for that matter, it falls on the sinner. It falls on you. It falls on me apart from the atoning work of Christ's shed blood on our behalf. God will bring our secret sins to light and we will be judged. We must remember that. One of the greatest temptations that I've seen in my own life and in the life of others is to believe that the problem is somewhere out there. Always somewhere out there instead of somewhere in here. David understood this as he penned a letter of repentance over his sin with Bathsheba. In Psalm 51 verse four he says, against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. The commentator Matthew Henry says, none are ruined by the justice of God but those that hate to be reformed by the grace of God. Let me say that again. None are ruined by the justice of God but those that hate to be reformed by the grace of God. You'll see this slide behind me, but in Psalm 89, verse 15, the psalmist says, blessed are the people who walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence. 1 John 1, 7 through 9, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. So this morning, are you walking in the light? Have you this morning acknowledged that apart from Christ, you are an enemy of God under His wrath and judgment? Have you acknowledged that you are a sinner in need of Christ's perfect sacrifice to pay a penalty that you could not pay, to live a life that you could not live, and to die the death that you deserved? Have you believed that Jesus is who he says he is, did what he said he would do, and have you confessed him as Lord and Savior of your life? But then, have you committed to following him, no matter the cost? Because let me tell you, and as any seasoned believer will tell you, once Salvation happens in your life, and you've given your life to Christ. It is not all rainbows and unicorns. Can I get an amen? Amen, yeah. But, he will be your refuge. He will be your dwelling place. Amen? With that reality in mind, let's move to point number three. Point number three is remember, man is frail. Starting in verse nine, the text says, for all our days pass away under your wrath. We bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our 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. Moses sees and connects the relatively short life and frail life that we have on this earth, and that he actually continues to see play out in the wilderness, to God's righteous judgment and wrath. Man is frail. Every human life is short and fleeting. Many of you have probably experienced this in the effects of physical aging and ailments, but also loss, maybe even the loss of a loved one. Man is frail. But to pass away, as verse 9 says, or literally turn or depart under the wrath of God is a whole different story. Moses seems to even foreshadow the theme in Ecclesiastes that everything under the sun is meaningless, or hebel. I think that's literally Jeff's favorite word, so I wanted to get that word in here at some point this morning. Literally, hebel. It's all toil and trouble, as it says in verse 10. You know, it reminds me of a passage in 1 Peter chapter 5 where it talks about being under the mighty hand of God. The reality is actually all of us are under God's mighty hand. Did you realize that? All of us are under the mighty hand and sovereign hand of God, and we can only be under it in one of two ways. Either we are under it as a refuge or dwelling place, which leads to comfort and life, or we are under it in his wrath, which leads to suffering and death. So as you consider that reality this morning, in what way would you say that you are under the mighty hand of God this morning? So Moses continues and says in verse 11, who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you? Consider the reality of the power of God and his anger towards unrighteousness and sin. In your frailty, in my frailty, when we sin, which we all do, does it register to you as an affront to God, as something God cannot tolerate, as something that he despises? Or have you become indifferent and callous towards your sin? Really, this is the place that the Israelites had gotten to. Listen, we are called all throughout scripture, if you look, to fear the Lord. And of course, if you are under God's mighty hand in a way of rebellion and sin, fear will naturally abound. But if in relationship with God as your refuge and dwelling place, this fear turns us away from evil, towards a wisdom and worship of God. Here's a couple verses on a slide. Proverbs 1.7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 8.13, the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. And one of my favorite verses, and Jeff, I think in a few weeks, is going to be preaching from this psalm, which I'm excited about, is Psalm 33, verse eight. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. A true and godly fear of the Lord always leads to worship in awe of him. Moses, however, instead experienced experienced firsthand, the Israelites' indifference grow, leading to callousness, and resulting in a pervasive sinfulness among them. So, he petitions the Lord in his prayer, recognizing that he is praying to a powerful, everlasting God. Recognizing, though, the wickedness and frailty of man before him. And knowing that they need wisdom, the wisdom only God can provide, and that only proper fear produces. So he says in verse 12, in Psalm 90, so teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. This is not a plea towards numbering our days because they are meaningless or hebel, or that our time is finite and so we should just live our life to the fullest. After all, you only live once. Moses has seen what happens when frail, finite beings disregard wisdom and instruction that comes from God and go their own way. Sound familiar? Forgetting God as their dwelling place and becoming indifferent towards the wrath and judgment of God. We are to number our days so that what? So that we get a heart of wisdom. Wisdom provided by the word of God that leads us towards the person of God and results in a worship of God. Let me say that again. Wisdom provided by the word of God that leads us towards the person of God and results in a worship of God. In your frailty this morning, pursue true biblical wisdom. James 3.17, but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And then as I read the text Moses seems in a way to take a break from the flow of this text in verse 14 with sort of a summary plea to acknowledge their need for God to turn back to them and have pity on them. Knowing the truth of their dwelling place, knowing the severity of God's wrath, and knowing their need for a heart of wisdom. the wisdom that leads us to God over any other temporal fleeting pursuit, and ultimately helps us find our satisfaction in Him and Him alone. So as we dwell on these truths this morning, and as we are thinking about these things, let's transition to point number four, which is the last point this morning. How are we doing on time? Still okay. Point number four, remember, seek satisfaction in God. Remember, seek satisfaction in God. Verse 14 says, 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 favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands. Yes, establish the work of our hands. Moses concludes this amazing prayer by asking God to satisfy them with his steadfast love. Amidst the toil and trouble that we saw in verse 10, and the sin and suffering, amidst the lack of wisdom and faith seen so pervasively throughout the Israelites, that God would satisfy them still with his steadfast love in the morning. So that what? So that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Like the psalmist says in 118 verse 24, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Yes, Lord, satisfy us with your steadfast love. Is that a prayer that you've prayed to the Lord? Reminds me of the famous passage in Lamentations chapter 3 verses 22 and 23. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. recognizing that even under the wrath and judgment of God, that he would purpose to make them glad, even when they see and experience evil, that he would show himself to his servants, that he would reveal his glorious power to his children, and that his favor would once again rest upon them and establish the work of their hands. So, I don't know about you, but if I do an inventory of my life and zero in on times of backsliding and sin, I can almost always see the connection to my satisfaction in God and lack thereof. If I look at times where I have become callous or indifferent towards spiritual things, the reality that I am finding my satisfaction elsewhere always comes into focus. So, this morning, whether it is toil and trouble, whether it is a lack of trust and faith, whether it is callousness or indifference. Maybe you have been tempted to lose focus of the refuge and dwelling place who is God himself. Maybe you have lost sight of the wisdom that only comes from God and have really been trailblazing your own way, doing what is right in your own eyes. In all of the details and the things that we've gone through this morning, I really do believe this psalm is for you, is for us. God is calling us, God is calling you to see his everlasting and just character. He is calling you to repentance. He is calling you to true and biblical wisdom. He is inviting you this morning to be ultimately satisfied in Him and Him alone. So let me end this morning with a quote from Oswald Chambers. It says this. The man or woman who does not know God demands an infinite satisfaction from other human beings, which they cannot give. And in the case of the man, he becomes tyrannical and cruel. It springs from this one thing. The human heart must have satisfaction. But there is only one being that can satisfy the last abyss of the human heart. but there is only one being who can satisfy the last abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. So back to the big idea this morning, a proper view of God's sovereignty and man's frailty should lead us to a proper satisfaction in our lives. in God and God alone. Amen? Amen. Let's pray together this morning. God, we thank you for this opportunity to look at this text this morning in Psalm 90. My prayer is that as we have dug into this historical context, and looked at Numbers chapter 14, and looked at Moses' life, and looked at these words this morning, that you would guide and direct our hearts and our minds to the place of recognizing that God is sovereign, and that we would remember that. It wouldn't just be a distant thought that comes up in our minds every once in a while. But God, you would bring attention to that reality each and every day in our lives, that we would remember that God is sovereign. but in that sovereignty that we would remember that you judge and that you will judge, but because of the perfect sacrifice of your son, we can have a dwelling place with you again. Our relationship with you can be restored because of the blood of Jesus Christ. And we know that we can't do this on our own because we remember that we are frail. We need a dwelling place. We need your help. We need your wisdom, the true biblical wisdom that only comes from you and your word. And God, as we survey our life and we look at all the things that can rise up and entangle our hearts and our minds, Help us, Lord, this morning by the power of your Spirit at work within us to find ultimate satisfaction in you and you alone. Because you are worthy of all of our praise, all of our adoration, and all of our satisfaction in you and you alone. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Sovereign & Satisfied
Series Summer of Psalms
A proper view of God's sovereignty and man's frailty should lead us to a proper satisfaction in our lives.
Sermon ID | 723231852393385 |
Duration | 42:39 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Bible Text | Psalm 90 |
Language | English |
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