the sermon of Moses

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 90:17

This prayer request comes at the very end of Psalm 90 and is a prayer composed by Moses. And the rationale for asking this of God is clearly not selfish in concern. Moses had made that very clear in the entirety of this psalm. God’s people do not deserve God’s favor because of their own outstanding merits. In fact, the opposite is really the case. Here then is the “sermon” of Moses in this psalm:

• God is the Creator and sustainer of everything (Psalm 90:1-2). This has always been the case for all generations. And God’s power and scope extend from eternity past to eternity future.
• Our mortal lives and the passage of time are insignificant in the light of the power of an eternal God (Psalm 90:3-6). History is like a night’s dream. Humanity is short-lived.
• God is also holy and judges sin (Psalm 90:7-9). He scrutinizes all we do and sin always brings us up short.
• We are consumed with our brief lives and give little to no thought to the staggering power of God (Psalm 90:10-12). We are in desperate need of God’s wisdom to accept our limited perspective and “number our days”.
• What we really need from God are these things:

1. His pity on us (Psalm 90:13).
2. His grace poured on us (Psalm 90:14).
3. His renewal of our broken lives (Psalm 90:15).
4. His work and power acknowledged and revealed in us (Psalm 90:16).

Only in this humble state should we dare to seek God’s favor and hope that He can build something from our lives. Thankfully, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, all of Moses’ “sermon” is fulfilled. And we can claim favor in Christ’s forgiveness and find our lives established in submitting to His Lordship.