You can listen to this devotional on the Renew Devotionals podcast, or keep reading below!
I wonder if God views humanity’s striving in the way a parent might view the earnest pursuits of a toddler. From our perspective, the efforts of others building wealth, power, or significance can leave us dazzled or intimidated. But from God’s perspective, even the lifespan of a whole nation could be likened to a tower of building blocks stacked in the middle of a playroom, here one minute, gone the next.
Psalm 90 holds up a spotlight to the contrast between us and God. It reads:
Psalm 90
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 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.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 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!We are of dust; God is divine.
Our days are numbered; God’s reign has no end.
We are ladened with sin; God is perfect in holiness.
While the span of 1000 years, much less our lives, is paralleled to the life-cycle of a blade of grass that grows in the morning and fades by night, Psalm 90 declares God’s enduring nature in comparison: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Psalm 90:2).”
Written by Moses after Israel’s wandering in the desert and passing away of a generation as a result of their disobedience, Psalm 90 proclaims this: our greatest efforts amount to nothing compared to the greatness of our God, and our most perfect performance forever falls short before God and his holiness.
While at first glance, the statements of this Psalm might come off as depressing - such as “you return man to dust” or “you sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream” - could it be that accepting our frailty is not a dead-end at despair but rather a pathway to life? Could it be that adopting the perspective of God actually delivers us the liberation we crave?
I think about the effects of viewing my own life with a distorted perspective. My hunger for significance causes my ministry work to often be infiltrated with stress, and my longing to have a “happy family” often leads me to be anxious or controlling. My perfectionist desire to have my life together leaves me weighed down with shame and despondency when I struggle or fail.
But acknowledging that God alone has the power to bring forth meaning and significance from my life actually unburdens me from the pressure I so often take on. Accepting that God’s grace alone can make me enough releases me from the never-satisfied pursuit of perfection. The message of Psalm 90 invites me to accept my need, and in light of Jesus’s death and resurrection, it draws me to live from Christ’s surpassing power!
Reflecting upon this Psalm, I’m thanking God for the gift of motherhood that has personally been the biggest source of revealing my deficiency and need for Jesus! The sleepless nights leaving me spent before the day even begins; the battle against anxiety over my children’s wellbeing and safety; the constant barrage of overstimulating moments where I lose my patience…when reframed, these challenging moments are all opportunities to look to and trust Christ.
It is only as we humbly depend on God that we are equipped with the proper perspective to live. “Teach us to number our days,” the Psalmist prays, “That we may get a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).” When we humbly surrender our efforts into the hands of God, depending upon his power and grace, we can trust that our lives will grow full with eternal meaning and spiritual fruit - the attributes of Christ such as love, joy and peace.
With our given roles and responsibilities in this season of motherhood, we can bow in reverence before God and with the Psalmist pray,
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! -Psalm 90:17
And when we struggle or fail, we can cast aside the encroaching shame and instead fall into the arms of Grace, praying,
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. -Psalm 90:14
Though our lives are but a passing breath before God, God covers them with his mercy and fills them with great meaning and purpose. Through Christ, our lives are redeemed, and we live out this redemption through faithful reliance on him.
Pray Scripture over your child! Adapted from Psalm 90:16-17
God, teach (your child’s name) to number their days that they may get a heart of wisdom. Satisfy them with your steadfast love, that they may rejoice and be glad all their days. Let your work and your glorious power be shown to them. Let your favor be upon them, and establish the work of their hands; yes, establish the work of their hands.
