Passage Read: Psalm 87-90
Meditation Verses: 90:7-12
Thought
Moses wrote this, and he was well past 80 years, and he was the most humble man on earth. He was faithful in all God's household. There was no one like Moses. He spent a third of his life as a prince of one of the most powerful kingdoms on earth. He spent a third of his life as a shepherd, living a simple life of simple pleasures. Then God called him to lead the Israelites out of captivity, and it brought him to his knees in ways he could never have imagined. He longed for death, but the Lord made him accompany the Israelites through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. He knew the Lord's wrath up close and personal, but it was rarely aimed at him. He watched it poured out on the people around him again and again, yet he writes this psalm like he was the object of God's wrath. He sinned the least of all his neighbors, yet he seems to have the best understanding of God's wrath and fury, and it weighs heavily on him. He didn't finish his days like a sigh, but was strong and clear-minded to the day of his death.
Application
It is so important to understand God's wrath and fury, but best not to be the object of that wrath and fury for too long. Coming to faith in Christ transfers us to the kingdom of God's beloved Son, but that doesn't relieve us of all the burdens and griefs and consequences of our own and others' sins. And it can seem sometimes as though every sin we have committed and a million more have been dredged up against us. It is good to understand the wrath and fury of God against sin, so as to train in me a heart of wisdom, so as to teach me to number my days and understand how to use them. But the weight can seem overwhelming at times, and death preferable to continuing under the pressure. My biggest fear is to slowly fade out of this life, to drift quietly away from the Lord and depart this life with a sigh. To fold under the pressure and abandon the Lord and all truth. I would rather go out in victory, with victory fresh on my heart as I go. Moses endured forty years of grief. The nearness of God had to sustain him. I need to draw near to God and obtain His comfort and strength and encouragement if I hope to succeed like Moses.