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1 God, it seems you've been our home forever; 2 long before the mountains were born, Long before you brought earth itself to birth, from "once upon a time" to "kingdom come" - you are God. 3 So don't return us to mud, saying, "Back to where you came from!" 4 Patience! You've got all the time in the world - whether a thousand years or a day, it's all the same to you. 5 Are we no more to you than a wispy dream, no more than a blade of grass 6 That springs up gloriously with the rising sun and is cut down without a second thought? 7 Your anger is far and away too much for us; we're at the end of our rope. 8 You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed since we were children is entered in your books. 9 All we can remember is that frown on your face. Is that all we're ever going to get? 10 We live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), And what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard. 11 Who can make sense of such rage, such anger against the very ones who fear you? 12 Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! 13 Come back, God - how long do we have to wait? - and treat your servants with kindness for a change. 14 Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we'll skip and dance all the day long. 15 Make up for the bad times with some good times; we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime. 16 Let your servants see what you're best at - the ways you rule and bless your children. 17 And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do! (Psalm 90: 1-17 The Message Bible)
Happy and blessed Thursday, ConCafe Family and you, dear Friend, is my prayer for you! May the Lord amaze us with His awesomeness and love; may we in turn, surprise those around us with blessings of life and peace! We continue to pray for those who have asked prayers of us. If you have any updates you wish to share with us, please let me know so I can pass on the news. We pray because God answers prayer and is gracious to us all! May we pray for one another, and for our personal needs as well. Please make prayer an act of genuine worship in which we glorify God and listen to Him; not an act of handing off a to-do list in hopes that God will find time to fulfill our requests!
And speaking of prayer, this is a prayer written with Moses in mind because of his faithfulness even in light of the difficulties he was receiving from his own congregation! I will admit that the first two verses read better to an old mind such as mine because it is one on which I grew up and old with. Here are those two verses in more "classic" versions: NIV: "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." KJV: "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." But, you have to love Dr. Peterson's "God, it seems you've been our home forever; long before the mountains were born, Long before you brought the earth itself to birth, from 'once upon a time' to 'kingdom come' - You are God." The psalmist is declaring his faith in the dwelling place we can find in God. If ever we find ourselves in a strange place or a situation where we feel we are almost homeless, God is there for us. God's love, like God's tracking of time, is endless! God is a patient God who counts no difference between one day and a thousand years; yet, the writer realizes that we sometimes can seem to test God's patience by our actions and deeds. We have indeed placed many a frown upon God's face; but still God loves us. And though the bitterness of the psalmist heads south with his remark about our seventy years being a series of trouble; adding "toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard." Then he realizes God's not to blame for our sinfulness; we are! So, his cry, "Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well!" Indeed. It falls on us to correct our actions and our lives, and to seek how best to live in God's favor instead of our own misdirection. And he holds on to the hope that in the morning, God will surprise us with love as the sun rises, and our mood will change from negativity into a time for skipping and dancing all day long. And he holds out hope for time to make up for all the bad we've seen with God's help; and this will be the time when God can show to us what truly can be ours by turning back to Him. May God's loveliness indeed shine on us and may we confirm the work God is doing in us in ways that bless others.
So, dear one, may our prayer today, and especially tonight be one of our affirming that God indeed is the source of all things and our desire is to know, to see, and experience the good that comes from God; may our times of cursing turn into times of blessing, and a time for affirmation.
PRAYER: Loving God, make real in us the desire to know You like never before. May we strive to be persons of love and blessings even in the face of evil, knowing that all will end on God's good note! It will be then when we will all join in the victory celebration that will be ours. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Turn your bitterness into blessedness today; and try not to hide it!
Receive my blessings of peace and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
