Life Is Short!

I thought long and hard last week about the woman who died in the Southwest Airlines flight. Jennifer Riordan was partially sucked out of the window despite wearing her seat belt. Fellow passengers were able to pull her back inside the plane. They were unable to revive her. She was on her way home from a business trip and her life was tragically cut short.

A young man called me last Friday night. He was driving home from work in Healy and came across a tragic accident in Cantwell. Under icy conditions a car crossed the center line of the Parks Highway. A young man (only twenty-eight years old) died.

Thinking about the brevity of life my thoughts turned to Psalm 90. Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm. It is the only psalm written by Moses. Moses wrote this tremendous chapter after watching his generation die in the wilderness.

Moses led his generation from slavery to the very edge of the Promised Land. The people sent out the twelve spies. Ten of the spies returned and said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:31). Only Joshua and Caleb brought a positive report. Due to the failure at Kadesh Barnea, God said that generation would not enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:20-22). Moses watched his generation die in the wilderness.

Moses saw the death of 1.2 million people in a 38 year period as they wandered in the desert. Specifically, 87 people died every single day. They all died because of the sin at Kadesh Barnea. In response Moses wrote Psalm 90. Psalm 90 teaches us three great lessons.

First, life is short. God is eternal. Psalm 90:2 reads, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or even You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” The mountains are very old but God is even older! God even preexisted creation. He is eternal.

In verses 3 to 6 Moses focused on the shortness of man’s life. Verse 3 says, “You turn man to destruction and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’” Destruction means “to be pulverized like dust.” God never dies. We return to the dust. Return is a call to repentance.

In verse 4 God is not bound by time. “For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past or as a watch in the night.” A thousand years to God is like a day. In light of eternity a thousand years is very short! A thousand years to God is even like a watch in the night. In Moses’ time the night was divided into three watches. A thousand years to God is like four hours of a human life. God is eternal- we are not.

Second, not all of our years are productive. Moses wrote, “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 (verses 5-6).” The middle years are our most productive years. Our early years are spent learning and developing and growing. Sometimes the later years are difficult. Our most productive years are often the middle years.

Third, we must number our days. Moses said, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty” (verse 10). Most people live between seventy and eighty years. Verse 12 says, “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Moses wants us to number our days.

It is good to count the number of days you have left until your 70th birthday and then each day subtract a day. At age 52 I’ve lived 18,980 days. I have 6,570 days until age 70. None of us are guaranteed 70 years.

We must live to gain a heart of wisdom. Wisdom is found in the Bible. The result of the sin of Kadesh Barnea was 38 years of monotony- wandering in the wilderness. We must be productive for God. We must live for eternity.

Jesus didn’t spend His time developing hobbies, acquiring possessions, seeking the good life or building a nest egg. He fed the hungry, healed the sick and raised the dead. Most importantly, He gave His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). He gave His life that we might live. He suffered the wrath of His Father for our sins. We must know Jesus through repentance and faith. We must embrace the gospel. We must be saved. We must also communicate the gospel.

Moses finished Psalm 90 by saying, “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!” God’s work is accomplished through His servants. We will be successful- with God’s help- even though life is short.

Pastor Ethan Hansen

Faith Bible Fellowship

Big Lake, AK