Author: timritanickel@gmail.com

Psalm 90:10-12 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, tht we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

”Life is short.” And the longer we live the shorter it gets. The young are soon old, and the old soon die. Maybe we live 70 or 80 years, which is really short compared to God’s plan for our eternal life. A short life of sorrow teaches us many things if we pay attention. We realize the shortness of this life (we number our days) and we pin our hopes on His promise of eternal life, graced to us by Jesus Christ.

Reflecting on the pains of this temporal life reminds us of our sin and our need for a Savior. Then we remember that we have a Savior who has given us eternal life. It is that life we enjoy now and will forever. We “set our minds on the things that are above, not on things that are on earth,” and “our life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2-3. Matthew 6:20: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

We “apply our hearts unto wisdom” by taking our eyes off ourselves and looking to Jesus. We respond to the problems of life by focusing on Jesus, His forgiveness, eternal salvation, and new life. In a sense, we can thank God for our pains and problems for they remind us of the joys of God’s life in us. We remember His Love is stronger than death. His life is stronger than our life.

Psalm 90:7, 9 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled….For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

Our sin causes God’s anger and wrath, which results in our pain, suffering, trouble, and death. And the older we get the shorter life seems, and all our days are passed away in wrath. We are troubled and eaten up by the wrath of God.

It takes God’s Word to convince us that our troubles are caused by our own sin and fault. We justly deserve His wrath and punishment. But God sent His Son to take our guilt and death upon Himself. And then it takes God’s Word to convince us that Jesus died for us to take away the sin and its justly deserved punishment. He fills our short life with eternal life and hope. God’s wrath is turned away from us and placed upon His own Son.

Psalm 89:30-32 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

The conditional covenant established through Moses threatened punishments if the people did not keep their part of the covenant stipulations (if…then), which are summarized in the Ten Commandments. Of course, the sinful people broke God’s Law time and again in unbelief and rebellion. Therefore, the consequences will surely come into effect: the rod and stripes.

The people’s response to God’s promises in the covenant were disobedience and rebellion. Punishments naturally resulted: God’s people lost the city, the temple, and the nation in the Babylonian Captivity. And they lost God and His Life.

The same thing happens to us for our sinful response: we lose a connection to God, Heaven, and life, and we find ourselves in captivity to our spiritual enemies, sin death and the devil. The Lord’s response to our sin is the rod and stripes, separation and death. But the Lord’s greater response to us is love that sends His Son who lived an obedient life for us and granted us God’s righteousness in place of our sin. Our response to this Gospel is repentance and faith.

Psalm 89:15-16 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

The Almighty God of Creation and Redemption has revealed Himself for the good of His people. And the people that respond to God’s great goodness shall be blessed and exalted. These believers know the joyful sound. We respond to the Gospel of Joy with a joyful sound, praising God and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. We know the joy of the Lord. He rejoices over us and we respond with joy.

This Joy of the Gospel moves us to walk in the light of His smiling face and loving presence. Since His Joy is with us we want to obey Him and live His way. We are aware of God’s loving presence. His Spirit is with us and in us, filling us with love, joy and peace.

With God’s Word and Spirit we are empowered to “rejoice in the Lord always.” Inner and outer joy becomes a hallmark of God’s people, who enjoy His blessing.

Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

My response to the Lord’s salvation and protection is to sing of God’s mercies and make known his faithfulness. And this praise and proclamation will go on forever to all eternity. It will take an eternity to properly and fully give expression to our thankfulness for the goodness and greatness of God and for what He has done for us.

Music and song are natural, God-given, ways to exuberantly thank and praise the Lord. Nothing less satisfies the inner urge to pray, praise and give thanks. And this song is never-ending. We will sing of His mercies. God’s mercies are shown to us in the blood of Jesus shed for our salvation. I sing of this mercy and because of this mercy. What will we do in heaven? Sing! What do we do on earth while we wait? Sing!

And we make known (proclaim) His faithfulness to all as long as we live. We tell everyone what He has done. Jesus has been faithful to His Father and kept His promises. He has been faithful to us in finishing the work of dying and rising for us.

Psalm 88:15-16 i am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me: thy terrors have cut me off.

Sin causes death and its consequent suffering during a short life. The Psalmist is afflicted and ready to die. He is suffering the terrors that come from God. The Law is doing its work on convicting of sin and bringing about repentance so that we might turn to God and believe the Gospel as our only hope of salvation.

The terrors are called God’s terrors, assuming they come from God. God uses the devil, the world, and our own flesh to afflict. God does no evil and He could stop it, but He uses it to bring about a good result, our faith and salvation. The terrors of God’s wrath are real, but the love of God is more powerful. We turn to the Cross and see the wrath poured out upon our sin. We believe and are saved from wrath and terror.

Psalm 88:13 But unto thee have I cried, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

”In the midst of life we are in death.” The Psalmist is surrounded by death and the threat of death. At certain times we may be more conscious of it than at others, but nevertheless, death is always present to us. Our own sin is the cause. Our response to this every day presence is to cry to the Lord and pray every morning.

Cry means both to weep in sorrow and to speak loudly and urgently, at least in our minds. The slings and arrows of life motivate us to cry out to God and bring our pains and problems to the Lord. We turn first to the Lord (“unto Thee”) before looking for other remedies. He alone is the source of all good.

We pray in faith every morning, trusting Him to hear and answer. We start every day with the Lord by our side and in us, which He always is, because of Christ. But we remind ourselves and make ourselves aware of His loving Presence. Then the day goes much better. Our prayer comes before the Lord continually through the day when we start it out right with God, through repentance and faith.

We wake up every morning with a greeting, “good morning, God,” and then we unload our burdens and problems onto Him. We remember our Baptism and arise to newness of life.

Psalm 88:9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

The Psalmist responds to affliction that wastes away the eye. Intense and prolonged affliction is causing his eye to weep and grow tired from crying. Therefore, he calls daily upon the Lord and stretches out his hands unto Him. The affliction seems unrelenting, and so he looks to the Lord and prays every day.

Some days life feels overwhelming and problems keep arising. Afflictions of soul and body are ever present causing my eye to mourn. My response to the problems of life is to call upon the Lord daily, for some afflictions keep recurring. I am always in need and my Lord is always here to hear and help.

Stretching out my hands can mean two things, and in this case both apply. It can be the posture of begging or of praising. We call upon the Lord with outstretched hands, pleading our need, asking help, and praising God, trusting in His grace and mercy for Christ’s sake. We call daily as beggars and believers.

Psalm 88:1-3 O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

The Psalmist feels as though he has hit rock bottom. He has sunk so low that he even despairs of life itself. Although everything seems bad, he can tell it all to God. No matter how low we feel, we can always take our problems to the Lord and express our anguish to Him. He cares. He listens. He answers.

”In the midst of life we are in death.” We die daily. Every day we come closer to our actual death, while we experience “little deaths” often. Our souls (mind, will, and emotions) are full of troubles. And our bodies experience the pain, too. But we can still cry out and pray to the Lord, for He listens to our pains and problems. It helps to tell it to God.

We have sinned and deserved death and punishment. But the Lord, in love and caring mercy, sent His only Son to die in our place and rescue us from sin and death. Our faith response to the Gospel promise is to cry out and pray to the Lord who is listening. We do so day and night for our sin and its consequences are always with us. But so is the mercy and life-giving power of God’s love in Christ. He will never, ever, forsake us, no matter how low we feel. So we go ahead and cry and pray and tell it all to our God who listens. He has done something about our misery in Christ, and He continues to come and remain with us in times of trouble.

Psalm 86:16 O turn unto me, and have mercy unto me, give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.

Proud and violent men are against David, but he responds by placing his trust in the Lord who is compassionate, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Therefore, he knows he can ask God to turn to him, have mercy, give him His strength, and save him.

When we know who God is and what He thinks about us in mercy, we can trust Him to turn His love and attention toward us in the time of trouble (which is every day). To know what God thinks about us we only need to look to the suffering and death of the Son of God on the cross. We know Jesus and we believe God. We see His mercy in the Gospel. We receive and enjoy His love and forgiveness by faith in Jesus, who He is and what has done. Because of Christ, we are sure the Lord will see our present need, hear our prayer, give us strength, and save us. We can live lives of peace, joy, and thanksgiving.