The Psalmist begins Psalm 90 by meditating on the God’s infinite nature and on man’s finite nature…
“Before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
“You return man to dust…You sweep them away as with a flood, they are like a dream…The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.”
After laying this foundation, he comes the last stanza of the Psalm…
12So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13Return, O Lord! How Long? Have pity on your servants!
14Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.
17Let 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!
As the Psalmist prays in verse 12, it is wise for us to number our days. It is wise for us to remember that God is eternal and we are not.
Why?
Perhaps because it helps us to endure afflictions and trials – it can remind us, in the words of Paul, that “this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”
Or perhaps because it helps us to exult in God’s infinite nature and to embrace our finite nature. There is a strange freedom in doing so. The demand, the pressure, the drive to make the most of every moment, fades away.
Or perhaps because it helps us to embrace our need for God’s favor. Our life is short and fleeting. But our God is not. He is eternal and infinite in beauty and power and love. He is our portion. His favor is all that we need – both in this life and the next.
But life is still hard. As the psalmist cries out, “Have pity on your servants!” for “you have afflicted us” and “we have seen evil.” We need to number our days and we need a heart of wisdom. But that isn’t enough. We need more. Today. Right here and right now. And every day hereafter.
And so the Psalmist then prays, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”
Notice that that the Psalmist does not say, “Give us” but “Satisfy us.” Why this word choice?
Because as Psalm 103:11 says, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.” If we fear God, that means He has already set his steadfast love upon us. As Christians, we need not ask God to give us His steadfast love. Because He already has. This verse is more than a promise. It’s a statement of reality. It’s a statement rooted in the very nature of the eternal God himself. God’s limitless and immeasurable steadfast love is already toward us. It is flowing from the eternal God and filling up His finite children. Yesterday, today, and forever. Regardless of our circumstances. Regardless of our suffering. Regardless of the suffering around us.
But sometimes we forget. Sometimes we cannot see or sense His love. And so we we do need to pray to be satisfied with His steadfast love. We need our hearts to remember that His steadfast love is toward us. That His steadfast love is present. That His steadfast love is sufficient. That His steadfast love is truly all that we need.
In the midst of our afflictions, in the midst of evil days, in the midst of our toils and troubles, what we need most is to be satisfied with God’s love. The Psalmist does not ask for his circumstances to change (although it would not necessarily be wrong for him to do so). He asks for a heart of wisdom. He asks to be satisfied with God’s love. He asks to see God’s work and His glorious power. The Psalmist recognizes that his deepest need and the ultimate source of His joy is to be satisfied with God’s steadfast love.
If we can fix our hearts on the reality of God’s steadfast love, we will be satisfied. We will rejoice. We will be glad all our days.
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love” O Lord!
moefamily 