Psalm 39:4-13, Psalm 90:1-4, 12-17
August 21, 2022
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“Even in our best shape we are a brittle piece of mortality. Your life is a breath, don’t waste it.”

~ Lecrae Devaughn Moore (1979-present), American musician, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur

“There comes a moment when we all must realize that life is short, and in the end the only thing that really counts is not how others see us, but how God sees us.”

~ Billy Graham (1918-2018), American minister and evangelist

“You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last.”

“What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-AD 65), Roman philosopher, statesman and dramatist

“Let those who thoughtfully consider the brevity of life remember the length of eternity.”

~ Thomas Ken (1637-1711), English minister and hymnist

“God did not derive His being from any other – His ‘is-ness’ is underived, original, eternal!”

~ Sinclair Ferguson (1948-present), Scottish minister and professor

“How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.”

~ A.W. Tozer (1897-1963), American minister and author

Sermon Passage

Psalm 39:4-13 (ESV), Psalm 90:1-4, 12-17 (NIV)

Psalm 39:4-13 (ESV)

⁴ “O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
⁵ Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
⁶ Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
⁷ “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
⁹ I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
¹⁰ Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
¹¹ When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
¹² “Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
¹³ Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”

Psalm 90:1-4, 12-17 (NIV)

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
² Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
³ You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
⁴ A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

¹² Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
¹³ Relent, LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
¹⁶ May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
¹⁷ May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.