| 1 > A Prayer of Moses the man of God. LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. |
Lord, you have seen our dwelling place throughout all generations |
| 2 > Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God. |
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. |
| 3 > Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. |
You turn men back to dust saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men," |
| 4 > For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night. |
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. |
| 5 > Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are [as] a sleep: in the morning [they are] like grass [which] groweth up. |
You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning |
| 6 > In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. |
though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. |
| 7 > For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. |
We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. |
| 8 > Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy countenance. |
You have set our iniquities before you; our secret sins in the light of your presence. |
| 9 > For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale [that is told]. |
All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. |
| 10 > The days of our years [are] threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength [they be] fourscore years, yet [is] their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. |
The length of our days is seventy years- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and fly away. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
| 11 > Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, [so is] thy wrath. |
Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you |
| 12 > So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom. |
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. |
| 13 > Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. |
Relent, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. |
| 14 > O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. |
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 according to the days [wherein] thou hast afflicted us, [and] the years [wherein] we have seen evil. |
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. |
| 16 > Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. |
May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to your children. |
| 17 > And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. |
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us -- yes, establish the work of our hands. |
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| Text Quoted in Spirit of Prophecy |
Thus was presented to the prophet’s vision the great and solemn day when the characters and the lives of men should pass in review before the Judge of all the earth, and to every man should be rendered “according to his works.” The Ancient of Days is God the Father. Says the psalmist: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” Psalm 90:2. It is He, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to preside in the judgment. And holy angels as ministers and witnesses, in number “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,” attend this great tribunal. { GC 479.2 } Read entire Chapter 28 |
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In every human being He discerned infinite possibilities. He saw men as they might be, transfigured by His grace—in “the beauty of the Lord our God.” Psalm 90:17. Looking upon them with hope, He inspired hope. Meeting them with confidence, He inspired trust. Revealing in Himself man’s true ideal, He awakened, for its attainment, both desire and faith. In His presence souls despised and fallen realized that they still were men, and they longed to prove themselves worthy of His regard. In many a heart that seemed dead to all things holy, were awakened new impulses. To many a despairing one there opened the possibility of a new life. { Ed 80.1}
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“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” ( Psalm 90:2). “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” ( Matthew 4:16). Here the pre-existence of Christ and the purpose of His manifestation to our world are presented as living beams of light from the eternal throne. “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” ( Micah 5:1, 2). { 1SM 248.2} |
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| Through the gospel, souls that are degraded and enslaved by Satan are to be redeemed to share the glorious liberty of the sons of God. God’s purpose is not merely to deliver from the suffering that is the inevitable result of sin, but to save from sin itself. The soul, corrupted and deformed, is to be purified, transformed, that it may be clothed in “the beauty of the Lord our God,” Psalm 90:17; “conformed to the image of His Son.” Romans 8:29; “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. Eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which man, restored to God’s image, may attain. { MB 60.3} |
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So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12. { FLB 158.1}
Our time belongs to God. Every moment is His, and we are under the most solemn obligation to improve it to His glory. Of no talent He has given will He require a more strict account than of our time. { FLB 158.2}
The value of time is beyond computation. Christ regarded every moment as precious, and it is thus that we should regard it. Life is too short to be trifled away. We have but a few days of probation in which to prepare for eternity. We have no time to waste, no time to devote to selfish pleasure, no time for the indulgence of sin. It is now that we are to form characters for the future, immortal life. It is now that we are to prepare for the searching judgment. { FLB 158.3} |
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Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Psalm 90:14, NKJV. { BLJ 322.1}
If God’s people would recognize His dealings with them and accept His teachings, they would find a straight path for their feet and a light to guide them through darkness and discouragement. David learned wisdom from God’s dealings with him and bowed in humility beneath the chastisement of the Most High. The faithful portrayal of his true state by the prophet Nathan made David acquainted with his own sins and aided him to put them away. He accepted counsel meekly and humiliated himself before God. “The law of the Lord,” he exclaims, “is perfect, converting the soul.” { BLJ 322.2} |
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