Daily Devotional 9.28.11

Tale of the Years

“For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.” (Psalms 90:9)

This Psalm is almost without parallel for sublimity, a worthy monument of the inspired genius of Moses, “the man of God.” It reflects the wanderings and experiences of the wilderness march; the watch in the night against the intrusion of the Bedouin thief, or the prowl of the wild beast; the rush of the flood, caused by torrential rain, but disappearing as quickly as on the sandy soil; the morning grass, scorched by the sirocco; the tales borne by the camp spies so soon ended; the disappointment of the springs of Marah; the inevitable leaving of Elim! the long weary days of marching, the mother and babe, the aged and little children, the weakling on the desert trail; the constant pitching and removal of tents–all these emblems of transitories, depicting the hard experiences of life’s toil and trial. Secret sins and iniquities; the averted face of God because of transgression; the death of the old at eighty, and of the young child cut down as a frail flower. Yes! But in spite of all this, God as the dwelling-place and home of the individual soul, as of the succeeding generation.

Shall we not make the concluding petitions of this Psalm our own? For we, too, are pilgrims over the desert-waste to the eternal Home. We need to be more careful of our days, watching their decreasing number, with careful anxiety to make the most of those that are left. We need to be satisfied and replenished each morning with God’s mercy, that we may have perennial springs of rejoicing and gladness. We long to help in the overthrowing of the power of evil, and as we grow older, we pray that the beauty of the Lord our God may be upon us, and may we feel that He has given permanence to the work of our hands.

Devotional Prayer

Dear Lord, Father in heaven hear my prayer.

How shall we thank Thee sufficiently, dear Lord, that Thou has demolished Death, and brought Life and immortality to light. Grant me grace to follow Thee all the days of my life, and when the call comes for me to pass over, may the waters of the river carry me gently to the farthest shore.

I pray this to you in Jesus name, Amen.