Lord, Satisfy Us With Your Full Context...

While reading in Psalm 90 this morning, I was moved to share what I gathered; however, the problem was that as I searched for a picture of verse 14, none of them matched what my heart is hearing. All of them were just flowers and coffee cups...like somehow the only way Christian women can be moved is by fluffy ideas like rainbows and unicorns.

Make no mistake...this is a beautiful prayer that delights God, but we have to go deeper!

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Here's what I mean...We must stop picking one cozy verse. Read verse 15...

"Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,

The years in which we have seen evil".

WAIT WHAT?! Make us grateful for affliction and evil?!?!?! Yes!! If we go back and truly encounter God throughout this tiny little 17-verse chapter, we will not find that people are amazing and that God's job was just to make them feel good about themselves. NO!!!

The full context -- the connection to other books, the message to God's chosen people, and the proper application to us now -- is wonderful! Read this snippet from bibleref.com...

"This psalm is attributed to Moses. It seems to have been inspired by Israel's wandering in the desert, which was punishment for their disobedience at the borders of the Promised Land (Numbers 13—14). He opens this psalm with a clear contrast: God is eternal and everlasting, and man is temporary and created.

The opening phrases establish that God is beyond time and the universe; He has no origin or creation. Rather, as God stated to Moses (Exodus 3:14), He simply "is." Human beings, on the other hand, die and return to the dust from which they are made (Psalm 90:1–4).

One reason for life's brevity is human sin. Judgment from God comes on those who provoke His wrath. Moses uses the analogy of grass, which can change from green and healthy to withered and dead very quickly. As echoed in other parts of Scripture (Hebrews 4:13), God is able to see all things, including secret sins (Psalm 90:5–8).

For this reason, Moses wonders who—if anyone—bothers to consider what will happen when they face judgment before God. In fact, the idea of "numbering our days" is directly tied to a wise perspective. A key step in understanding our position before God is realizing our own mortality (Psalm 90:9–12).

Moses ends this prayer with a plea for God to rescue and enlighten His people. The cry of "how long" is a common one in the Old Testament (Psalm 6:3; 35:17; 89:46; Isaiah 6:11; Habakkuk 1:2). It's normal in the middle of hardship to wonder when —or even if —God will respond. And yet, Moses expresses faith that God will give Israel reasons to rejoice. He especially asks God to demonstrate Himself to the people, to encourage their faith. The psalm ends with a repeated request for God to bless Israel's efforts (Psalm 90:13–17)."

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God's word through Moses was for the Israelites and for us:

In light of His wonder and perfection, be humbled, filled with reverence, and repentance! Recognize your limitations and situations as a gift from a merciful God who wants to protect us from our pride and the lie that we are enough on our own!! Look at how faithful and generous HE IS, no matter how rebellious and defiant humanity has always been!!

 Be reminded that our lives are the equivalent of a blade of grass (V 5-6), and the most we can boast about is our "labors and sufferings" (V 10), but HE goes on from

EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING (V 2)!!

That means that HE has never had a beginning and HE will never have an ending!!!

I cannot even wrap my tiny little brain around that, BUT THAT'S THE POINT!!

When I actively work to BEHOLD HIM, I am no longer beholding me, and y'all, I AM SET FREE! It's there that I find the peace that passes all understanding (Phil 4), and I can be oddly grateful for the affliction and evil that God has allowed in my life. And here's one step better....from that, my children will know HIS glory, and THEY WILL BE SET FREE (V 16)!!!

Now, don't get me wrong, I adore beautiful things like rainbows and cozy corners. I'm sitting here studying with my hot cup of tea right now. There is ZERO wrong with those things, but as I survey our wondrous God, I feel driven to challenge us to go deeper than the frill. I feel deeply burdened to challenge us to stop stopping on the fun verse that looks good above our beds, and or on our Facebook page.

We have to go and find the God of all creation, who is not just here to give us the job and the house we have dreamed of. We have to digest this...He who has chosen us chose us to do HIS good work, and THAT'S what He will complete in and through us (John 15:16; Eph 2:10; Phil 1:6; Psalm 90:17).

Read all of Psalm 90, the oldest Psalm, and next to Job, the second oldest writing in the Bible. Consider the magnitude of what this Psalmist is saying. Now, lean back in worship!

Ask the Holy Spirit to pull you out of the clouds and into HIS wondrous presence! There you will be satisfied with HIS unfailing love, and there you will know true victory in Jesus that is not based on an earthly result, but on Him being who He says He is (Eph 3:20)!!!

You will praise Him for the afflictions you've had and the evil that you've watched our powerful creator crush through the death and resurrection of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ (Rom 16:20)!