Lord, you have been our refuge in every generation. Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God. (90:1-2)
Psalm 90 is what many commentators believe to be the oldest recorded piece of scriptural text in our bible. Commonly known as the prayer of Moses, it was written by him even before the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) was recorded. When you consider the ancient nature of this text and the one who actually prayed it (Moses) it helps you see the sweeping nature of the word of God. In this Psalm, Moses considers the eternality of God and how He stands outside of time. Moses says, In God’s sight “a thousand years are like yesterday that passes by, like a few hours of the night.” By contrast to God’s timelessness, Moses says that “man is like grass that grows up in the morning and by evening withers and dies.”
He also considers other themes related to the wrath of God on sin and our need for compassion and favor from the Lord. Finally, Moses cries out to God… in light of our transient life… to establish the work of our hands. He is a big, big God. He was there before time and will be there “from eternity to eternity.” We are but a vapor; only what we do that He establishes will last beyond our fleeting years. Moses probably had no idea about the significance of his life at the time when he was living. He knew God and knew that God was using him, but I doubt he could look down the corridor of time and picture me sitting behind a computer still considering his life thousands of years later. God answered his prayer and established the work of his hands. May God answer that prayer for you and me as well! May the impact we make on the world around us continue to ripple out into eternity long after our we are gone and forgotten; may He establish the work of our hands!
