Psalm 90

Jesus told a parable in Matthew 13 that began with the words, “A sower went out to sow,” meaning that a farmer went out into the fields to plant seed by casting it on the ground. The parable talks about four different types of soil. One type of soil is the soil full of weeds or “thorns.” He explains the meaning of this soil later to His disciples: “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

The word of the kingdom comes to us. Will we receive it, or will the tyranny of urgent worries and the discouragement of present disappointment be like weeds in the field of our hearts, choking out what could have been a very fruitful harvest?

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Even before the world was made, God had an eternal purpose that He is now accomplishing in Jesus His Son. We cannot permit our worries to be bigger than this eternal God. We need to use even our biggest concerns as a road of prayer that leads us back home to the eternal God.

We live and die at God's command. He sweeps away even 1000 years as if they were just a few hours. The morning comes again at His command and it is new and fresh. This God of eternity has made a way for regular people to have communion with Him!

This world is passing away because of the sentence of judgment upon us that has come from the Almighty. He is not happy with our sin, and He has placed limitations on the life of mankind here below. Every death reminds us of the anger of God against sin. But this same God has given us Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”

Through this eternal God, a way has been made for us, not only for present daily communication and encouragement, but for eternal life. His wrath against us has been spent on His Son. While our years here may come to an end, when we die we go to be with the One who has loved us with an everlasting love.

Our years here below are brief... 70, 80, 100, even 120 years, these life spans are still so short in the sight of the Lord. We need a heart of wisdom about the brevity of our lives if we are to live them well now in the presence of the Eternal One.

Every day counts, but every anxiety is not your friend. Every day counts, but not for you to spend it worrying about tomorrow or obsessing over yesterday.

Live this day with an ear to the voice of the Lord. Ask for His help. Ask Him to have pity on you in your weakness. Ask Him for gladness that would overwhelm your previous experiences of evil.

The Apostle Paul writes this instruction to the church, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” If you want to find gladness in a world of death, you are going to have to rejoice more in the God of eternity Himself than in His determination to give you an immediate happy ending to your every present care.

It is not that the Lord is insensitive to your sorrows. Far from it. He carried those sorrows for you on the cross, and He bids you now to believe Him and to love Him. He can establish the work of our hands. He can take our present labors and give us fruitfulness in a world without sin and death.

Come to Him now. Tell Him what ails you. Then ask Him to take your tears and your labors of love. Ask Him to bless them abundantly for eternity. He alone is able to do this. He is the Lord.