Psalm 90- In Memoriam

On Sunday morning, the LORD took home to Himself one of His children, a beautiful lady who lived in the hostel where I work. Today, I was blessed to attend a mini-memoriam service with the residents and staff of the hostel/retirement village. Together we read Psalm 90, prayed and sang the same psalm. It was a nice way to reflect on the blessings God gives us in life, and also to receive comfort from His promises of life after death.

PSALM 90, NKJV
"Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.

You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.

The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.

Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands."

 

We are blessed with life; and many people, by God's grace, receive more than 80 (some even 90) years of life.  Reflecting on the blessing of life, it is easy to take for granted the riches we receive in simply breathing; let alone being able to 'live' i.e. communicate, work, play, etc. Life is frail. God numbers our days, and each day is another blessing from His hand. When thinking about this, it's also important then, that we live our life to the fullest. That is, to God's glory, and as a blessing to others on this earth.

As Psalm 90 also says, our sins weigh us down, and this world is full of evil. Yet with God's mercy, we can be glad for the days God gives us, even if they're full of trouble. Because He redeems and rescues us for that slavery, and grants us a new life in Him, beginning on this earth.

And we can be thankful that He is our dwelling place to all generations. We can find comfort in His arms, also as we grieve. May He grant us the peace of knowing that His children, when they pass away, go home- home to their eternal and majestic Father. May He grant us comfort when we grieve an empty space here on earth, and the grace and strength to move forward.

May God so establish the works of our hands, that we work in His kingdom with all joy, that we are grateful, that we shine as lights in the world, and that we live for His service. For one day He will call us home, where we begin a life with God that will never end.