Oh, righteous and holy Sovereign,
In whose hand is my life and whose are all my ways,
Keep me from fluttering about religion;
fix me firm in it,
for I am irresolute;
my decisions are smoke and vapor,
and I do not glorify you,
or behave according to your will;
Cut me not off before my thoughts grow to responses,
and the budding of my soul into full flower,
for you are forbearing and good,
patient and kind.
Save me from myself,
from the artifices and deceits of sin,
from the treachery of my perverse nature,
from denying your charge against my offenses,
from a life of continual rebellion against you,
from wrong principles, views, and ends;
for I know that all my thoughts, affections, desires and pursuits are alienated from you.
I have acted as if I hated you, although you are love itself;
have contrived to tempt you to the uttermost,
to wear out your patience;
have lived evilly in word and action.
Had I been a prince
I would long ago have crushed such a rebel;
Had I been a father
I would long since have rejected my child.
O, Father of my spirit,
King of my life,
cast me not into destruction,
drive me not from your presence,
but wound my heart that it may be healed;
break it that your own hand may make it whole.
This one really paints it like it is.
1 A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. 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.
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.
12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
(Oddly enough, this was the psalm that our message was on yesterday.)
Our life is like a vapor. Remember blowing soap bubbles as a child? Remember how easily they disappeared? Or eating cotton candy? Take a bite, and it dissolves in your mouth almost instantly. In this psalm written by Moses (making it very possibly the oldest of the psalms), we are reminded that our earthly existence is like these bubbles or this spun sugar concoction. We are but dust. We are like grass that grows in the morning, but is withered by nightfall.
But God is eternal! The difference between immortality and eternal is this: We are immortal in the sense that our souls will never die. They will live on after our bodies perish. But God is eternal. "Before the mountains were brought forth..." "...from everlasting to everlasting..." That is how long God has existed! We are finite, but God is infinite. And, we are told, he does not measure time as we do. A thousand years to God "are but as yesterday."
Moses, in response to this realization, asks God to teach us to "number our days" so that we may obtain wisdom. We may get 70 or 80 years. (Some have incorrectly maintained that this is a promise that we will live that long. If that were true, I believe the opposite would also hold true, that no on would live longer than 80 years.) Some more, some less. Every moment is precious. "Wisdom comes with an objective awareness of time that results in a changed perspective."
Perhaps we need to reorder our priorities.
But our souls are immortal, and I long for the day when my soul is living for the rest of eternity in your presence! In the meantime, I echo the words of the Puritan prayer I quoted. Save me from myself, Lord. Save me from the perverse desires of the flesh. Save me from the curse of mediocrity. Make me your man. Make me the worship leader you want me to be. I don't ask for fame and fortune. I don't care if anyone else but you knows my name. But I do care that people know YOUR name!
Thank you for showing me the things we learned yesterday. Thank you for reminding me that what comes out of my mouth reflects my heart. So change my heart, O God. Make it ever true. May I be like you.
THE ECONOMY
The outlook for the U.S. economy remains mixed, according to the Federal Reserve�s most recent survey. Overall U.S.
economic activity is increasing but not robustly and in a few districts has lost steam over the past several weeks.
Americans' confidence in the economy eroded further in July amid worries about a job market that has proven
stubbornly stagnant. The report raised concerns about the economy not improving during the back-to-school season.
Pray about the state of the national economy and all who are suffering under the prolonged recession.
Grace and peace, friends.