God, our secure dwelling place

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations (v1).

There is a majesty in this psalm unexcelled in the whole of Scripture.

It comes to us from remote time, yet it speaks directly to us in our present time, and will continue to do so in any future time.

So profound is its wisdom that men ascribed this psalm, along among all the psalms, to Moses, the man of God. No one, they said, except Moses, who had spoken with the Lord face to face (Ex 33:11), could possibly have penned such wonderful words.

It commences by reminding us that God alone is everlasting. Generation follows generation in swift succession, and pass as unremembered as waves breaking on some lonely shore.

God is our only permanence, our only secure dwelling place. "Thou, Lord," says the writer to the Hebrews, "didst found the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of thy hands; they will perish, but thou remainest . . . thou art the same, and thy years will never end" (1:10-12).

"Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (v2).

The life of man

What, then, is the life of man in the light of the eternity of God?

It is "a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes" (Jas 4:14). It is "like grass which is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers" (v5-6).

The transitory nature of man is seen in the certainty of his death. With God, "a thousand years . . . are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night;" but with man, "the years of our life are threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away" (v10).

Man has his inevitable end.

Memories will remain so long as there are men and women who like to remember us. But one day they, too, will die; and with their death all memory of most of us will pass away.

Death, for us all, is certain. Yet there is something in us that rebels at the thought of death. It is because of this rebellion that we use euphemisms.

We talk of "passing away", of "going before", of the deceased one being "lost". We try, in vain, to cover up the agony of it.

Why do we die?

We are told it is as natural to die as it is to live, yet in our innermost being we feel there is something unnatural about it, a feeling we do not have when an animal dies.

For us, as Shakespeare said, we have "immortal longings".

We feel we are different from all else, and we are right. We wonder why we, the only creatures made in the image and likeness of God, should fly away and be forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day.

Here is the deep riddle of life to which this psalm has the only answer. We die because God's holy face is set against us; it is our punishment, the penalty we must pay for our sin.

As Moses put it, in verse 7, "We are brought to an end by thy anger, and silence by thy wrath" (NEB).

We are all the children of fallen Adam, and to him it was said, because of his sin, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen 3:19).

We are all sinners, therefore we must all die; for "the wages of sin is death" (Ro 6:23).

But Moses has much more in view than that. He wants to shock us out of a thoughtless view of life, and make us think hard about this wonderful gift which God has given to us.

Live wisely

He wants us to think hard about the brevity of life, and about its tremendous significance for good or for evil. In his own words he wants us "to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" (v12).

How long have we got in which to live?

If our life span is "three score years and ten" we have 23,725 days from the day of our birth. If we take away our unconscious hours in sleep we have 15,825 days. If we take away, say 15 years of childhood and youth, we have 12,150 days.

But if we have reached middle life half these precious days have already gone, never to be recalled. Truly, as the poet said, "Brief life is here our portion."

Think hard about that, says the psalmist. Then commence to number your days, that is, make every waking moment count for God. In this way we "get a heart of wisdom."

By this he means we begin to live wisely, just as if every day were our last. We begin to live in the light of eternity.

Living in that light we guard our mouths from all unkindness, all lack of love. We see how trivial are our personal differences, our quarrels and our envyings.

We "cease to do evil and learn to do good" (Is 1:17). We do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God (Mic 6:8).

Eternal life

Then Moses went on to ask God for mercy.

"Relent, and take pity on thy servants. Satisfy us with thy love when morning breaks, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days" (v13-14).

Although Moses did not live to see that day God did relent and have pity. "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" (Gal 4:4).

"Our Saviour, Christ Jesus, abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel" (2 Tim 1:10). "He who believes in the Son has eternal life" (Jn 3:36).

For the Christian, death, although inevitable, is not the end. Beyond death morning will break in the Father's presence, and we "will sing for joy and be glad all our days". Not days which will pass but days which will continue forever.

Tuesday

PSALM 92

"The righteous . . . bring forth fruit in old age, they are ever full of sap and green" (v14).

For many people growing old is something they dread even more than death. They visualise themselves as losing all that makes life meaningful for them ­ their good looks, their circle of friends, their health, their acceptance by society.

They see old people being shunned by younger people and consigned to the junk heap, to the old age home, or to the retirement village.

They see them being tolerated but no longer taken seriously. Their views are old-fashioned and irrelevant; and the pension they draw from the taxpayer is resented.

People of all ages see these things, and dread the day when they too will be old.

But this should never be true of the Christian. The Christian, if he or she has learnt how to live, should look forward to retirement as a time when they can "bring forth fruit in old age" in new forms of productivity.

 

Wednesday

PSALM 37:23-29

"I have been young, and now am old" (v25).

Perhaps the most remarkable example in New Zealand of a man who brought forth fruit in his old age was the late Sir Alfred Reed of Dunedin, a devout Christian man.

Sir Alfred, who had very little education, and who spent his early life as a gum digger in Northland, had an amazing period of productivity as from the age of 60.

As from that age he wrote more books than anyone else in our country, and became famous through his walks from one end of New Zealand to the other.

He walked from Sydney to Melbourne at the age of 89. At the age of 88 he climbed Mt Egmont (2517m).

The last book he wrote, The Happy Wanderer, was produced at the age of 98! He died at 99, still researching in the public library, and writing.

The book about his life is rightly called, The Young Kauri. Despite his great age he never grew to be an old kauri!

 

Thursday

PROVERBS 3:1-8

"Let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life . . . will they give you" (v2).

Sir Alfred Reed inserted the following creed in many of his books, a creed which was the secret behind his long and fruitful life.

He wrote, "I believe in the gospel of work, of laughter, and of goodwill to men; in the power of choice between good and evil, and of reaping what we sow; in life beyond, and the imperishability of character and thought; in the evolution of the soul; in God the all-good, all-wise, and ever-present; and in Jesus Christ who revealed Him to us. With supreme confidence I believe in the reunion of loving hearts in the hereafter."

We may not accept every phrase in his creed but it does reveal a buoyant optimistic spirit, a deep faith in God, and complete confidence that the believer is journeying on towards a new dawn, "until the day break, and the shadows flee away" (S of Sol 2:17).

This is how we should all live if we are to enjoy life to the full; and live to the last day with the same enthusiasm with which we commenced our journey.

Sir Alfred Red died on January 15, 1975, in his hundredth year. The night before he died he typed on a sheet of paper the text which had been his motto since childhood.

 

Friday

ISAIAH 40: 25-31

"They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (v31).

The phrase "wait for the Lord", or "wait upon the Lord" (AV), is found seven times in Isaiah and at least 15 times in the Psalms.

We understand it as meaning that we must wait upon the Lord in prayer if we are to renew our strength.

All of us are like batteries which run down. From time-to-time we need re-charging, and this re-charging is done through prayer.

As we age we lose strength. We cannot walk like we used to. We cannot run up the stairs anymore. But there is no need for us to let things get on top of us.

Our life spirit is still there, and we need to claim the promise, "He gives power to the faith, and to him who has no might he increases strength" (v29).

We need to wait upon the Lord with more assurance and trust than ever before, believing that in his strength we can still, at least in our own mind, "mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint."

 

Saturday

1 TIMOTHY 6:6-16

"There is great gain in godliness with contentment" (v6).

So often our declining years are ruined by thoughts of the "might have-been." We agonise over missed opportunities, over sins committed and good deeds omitted. How wise we are, if early in life, we decide to live only for today, and for tomorrow.

An inspiration in this matter is Frances Jane Van Alstyne, better known to us as Fanny Crosby, her maiden name. She wrote the hymn, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus".

Fanny Crosby was born in New York on March 24, 1820. When she was six her sight was practically destroyed through the carelessness of a doctor.

Instead of this calamity making her very bitter, as one would expect, Fanny, as a young girl, wrote in her diary, "I resolve to leave all care to yesterday, and to believe that the morrow will bring its own peculiar joy."

At the age of 86 she wrote, "I have not for one moment felt a spark of resentment against God."

Truly "there is great pain in godliness with contentment."

 

Sunday

JOHN 14:1-6

"I go to prepare a place for you" (v2).

Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) was one of the most gifted hymn-writers who has ever lived. He gave us such magnificent hymns as Praise the Lord, His Glories Show; Praise, my Soul, the King of Heaven; Pleasant are Thy Courts Above; and God of Mercy, God of Grace.

These are all praise hymns through which this young Irish clergyman expressed his overflowing devotion to God.

However, in middle life Henry Francis Lyte was stricken with tuberculosis, for which there was no cure.

But instead of this tragedy causing him to rail against God, this godly man turned his thoughts towards the world to come. He wrote:

His last sermon was preached to his devoted people on September 4, 1846. He knew he was dying, but on that same Sunday evening he wrote once more of his unconquerable faith in the hymn, Abide With Me:

Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies

Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee

In life and death, O Lord, abide with me.

Henry Francis Lyte really believed these words of Jesus. And so must we.

 

Monday

DEUTERONOMY 32:1-7

"Ask your father and he will show you; your elders and they will tell you" (v7)

The older people in any community are a wonderful source of wisdom and knowledge. They have faced and overcome many problems and difficulties which are the same problems and difficulties facing younger people.

These younger people are wise if they consult these older people, and listen to their advice.

This is particularly true in the Christian Church.

It is so often said that young people should teach young people, that youth attracts youth. But surely there is a place also for older people who have walked with the Lord all their days, and who have proved his faithfulness when passing through deep waters.

Such people have so much to give, and are so often longing to share their experiences with those who are new in the faith.

Age barriers, which are such a tragic fact in our communities, should not exist in the Church. We need to respect and love our older members ­ and learn from them.

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