Psalm 90 is the only one out of 150 that was written by Moses. Psalm 90 is also the first in book 4 of the Psalms, which some say carries many of the themes and ideas from the 4th book of the Pentateuch, the book of Numbers. That book tells of the consequences of Israel’s disobedience and grumbling on their journey to the Promised Land. The nation of Israel spent 40 years wandering, seemingly aimlessly, in the wilderness and only Joshua and Caleb from the prior generation actually entered the Promised Land.
As noted in a recent post, the Psalm begins by saying we are only home when we are with God, but the Psalm ends with this petition to God for us:
“Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
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!”
It may seem easy, or even natural, to just go with the flow of our surrounding cultures while in this world, but that would really be like wandering in the wilderness instead of getting God’s promised blessing. Instead, do we seek that God’s “work be shown to your servants,” and that He “establish the work of our hands upon us”? Do we seek “the favor of the Lord,” and experience His “glorious power”? This is what Moses asks for in this prayer, that we find our purpose in Him by doing His work. We all have “worldly” responsibilities we need to take care of in this world, but none of them are the ultimate goal.
In other words, the best way to spend our short lives here is to do work that matters in eternity, which God has laid out for us to do:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10
“So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.” – Moses, in Psalm 90:12
