Isaiah 40:6-8 English Standard Version
The Word of God Stands Forever
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said,[a] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty[b] is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Psalm 90:1-6 New American Standard Bible
BOOK 4
God’s Eternity and the Brevity of Human Life.
A Prayer of [a]Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, You have been our [b]dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
[c]Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3 You turn mortals back into dust
And say, “Return, you sons of mankind.”
4 For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
[d]Or like a watch in the night.
5 You have [e]swept them away like a flood, they [f]fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass that [g]sprouts anew.
6 In the morning it flourishes and [h]sprouts anew;
Toward evening it wilts and withers away.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
The Fragility of Life ….
Our text today emphasizes two solemn truths that point to the same fact.
There is no room for human vanity.
Human pride is nothing but utter foolishness.
Our bodies are as fragile as grass.
We have physical weaknesses that cannot be disguised.
Time carves wrinkles into our faces, and make-up cannot cover it. Our legs too become weak, our knees wobble, our hands droop, our eyes blur, and every gray silver hair that sprouts on our heads is a reminder of the shortness of our lives.
We also have emotional weaknesses.
There are times when we despair of life itself.
We cry, we moan, we sob, assailed by anguish.
We have moral and spiritual weaknesses as well.
We promise to walk in righteousness, and yet our feet often stray down winding paths taking us to all points of a compass and all of them take us into big circles.
We are ambiguous and contradictory people.
The good we want to do, we do not do; and the evil we hate, we practice.
Besides being fragile like grass, all the glory we achieve has a fleeting beauty like that of the flowers of the field.
The heat of the sun makes the delicate flower wither and dry.
Our glory is fleeting, and our accomplishments pass away.
Our achievements are lost in the dust of time.
We are too small, too fragile, too young!
But, thankfully, that doesn’t have to be our end.
In the Lord we can trust that our destiny is safe with him.
No Place for God?
Psalm 90:7-10 New American Standard Bible
7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And we have been terrified by Your wrath.
8 You have placed our guilty deeds before You,
Our hidden sins in the light of Your presence.
9 For all our days have dwindled away in Your fury;
We have finished our years like a [a]sigh.
10 As for the days of our [b]life, [c]they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is only trouble and tragedy;
For it quickly passes, and we disappear.
11 Who [d]understands the power of Your anger
And Your fury, according to the fear [e]that is due You?
Some time ago a chaplain at a public university heard one of the administrators saying, “No offense, but I think anyone who believes in God has a mental health problem. God has no place in a scientific institution such as a university.”
That administrator is not alone.
An article in a church magazine reported that a small group of students who were studying theology at a German university were convinced by their DMin. professor that “neither God nor the church were of much relevance today.”
Even though they were baptized members of Lutheran and Reformed churches, they felt that God had become irrelevant.
Some of the people I know have come to the same conclusion: If there is a God, he is far away and no longer matters.
About 2,700 years ago God’s people in Jerusalem and Judah felt the same way.
Many of their people had been taken into exile, and it seemed that the Lord had abandoned them.
But God told his prophet Isaiah to remind them that he was with them every step of the way.
Regardless of what anyone might think, God is here, and he is at work in our world still today.
Some 700 years after Isaiah spoke, God proved his presence through the birth of his Son, the Lord Jesus.
He “moved into the neighborhood” (John 1:14, The Message).
Don’t think for a moment that God has become irrelevant. Our God is here!
Each of us needs a healthy dose of comfort from time to time.
The child at play who trips and scrapes her knee badly needs comfort from a parent or other caregiver.
The young man or woman at college with its unfamiliar surroundings needs someone to talk to.
Consider also the young couple whose first child was stillborn, the middle-aged couple whose son died in an accident, and that elderly man whose wife of 60 years is slipping away because of Alzheimer’s. Who will dare to comfort them?
Thank God that there is good news in Isaiah’s song.
God himself says, “Comfort, comfort my people. . . . Speak tenderly. . . .”
When we need comfort, we must remember, first, that God is the Sovereign Lord. He will meet us in every situation with his powerful arm.
As an old hymn puts it, “Oh, let me not forget that, though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.”
Never forget it!
1 This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas–
His hand the wonders wrought.
Second, our Father is a loving, compassionate God.
No matter what adversities you may be going through today, you can take comfort.
Like a shepherd with his sheep, God carries us close to his heart.
Remember Jesus’ parting words:
“I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Praying …
Psalm 16 New American Standard Bible
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Salvation in Death.
A [a]Mikhtam of David.
16 Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.
2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord;
I have nothing good besides You.”
3 As for the [d]saints who are on the earth,
[e]They are the majestic ones; all my delight is in them.
4 [f]The pains of those who have acquired another god will be multiplied;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.
5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.
6 The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me.
7 I will bless the Lord who has advised me;
Indeed, my [g]mind instructs me in the night.
8 I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to [h]Sheol;
You will not [i]allow Your [j]Holy One to [k]undergo decay.
11 You will make known to me the way of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 