The message in this psalm is simply: God Is Great
While Man Is Not! This psalm contrasts God’s Eternal Nature verses Man’s
Frailty. It sets out with the definite statement of a theological doctrine: the
doctrine of the eternity of God: “Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to
everlasting, thou art God” (vs 2).
God is eternal means He has neither a beginning nor an
ending. And because God is eternal, He is also timeless: “For a thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the
night” (vs 4).
How about man? Man has a beginning and he has a
limited time on this earth: “The years of our life are seventy, or even by
reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are
soon gone, and we fly away” (vs 10, ESV).
Eighty years is all we have. It is extremely short
when we compare it to eternity. But that’s not all. Life is also a burden: “yet
their span is but toil and trouble”. And when we think we can enjoy our
retirement, it says: “for it is soon cut off, and we fly away”; it means
we die.
Sad, isn’t it? Life is filled with toil, labour,
trouble, sorrow, and death. It should make us ask ourselves these questions:
“What then is the purpose of life?” “Why am I doing all these things while the
end is death?” “How can my fleeting life have purpose or value?” “How can I
make my life significant and worthwhile?” “How then should I approach
life?”
Many will say: “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow
we shall die” (Isaiah 22:13; 1 Corinthians 15:32). Well, that’s the
hedonist’s philosophy. That philosophy assumes because death is the end, let us
enjoy ourselves while we can. That philosophy is flawed if there is a
resurrection of the dead. And, the fact is, there is a resurrection of the dead
which brings about the Judgment Day: “And as it is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Hence, our prayer should be this: “So teach us
to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (vs
12).
Our fleeting lives can have value only if we live
wisely before the eternal God. Only a relationship with the eternal God gives
life its meaning and value. Remember Solomon’s advice: “Vanity of vanities,
says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).
There is no hope in earthly glory.
The psalmist exhorts us to live wisely because life is
short. We should conduct our lives in light of eternity: “For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
Do you approach each and every day as something
entrusted to you by God, something to be properly invested for His kingdom?
Times flies and life is short! Don’t waste time: “Redeeming the time,
because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
We are living in the evil days. Each of us needs to
evaluate how we use the precious gift of time. We need to regard each day as a
valuable gift from God. We need to make the most of what little time we have.
We need to live in light of eternity!
Jimmy Lau
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