Psalm 90:10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
…12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
At twenty-five, this was an interesting Psalm. At seventy-five, it has my full attention. Our mortality was once an undeniable truth we could hold at arm’s length, but in time, our arms shorten, and it’s right in front of our faces.
The Psalmist is not at all a pessimist, but is an unflinching realist. As each year becomes a smaller fraction of our lives, it feels that time accelerates. It’s like being in a busy doctor’s waiting room, and each time the door opens, you wonder if this time your name will be called.
The names of most of the people I have known and loved have already been called. These include grandparents, parents, a sister, uncles and aunts, and many of my cousins. It also includes almost all of my teachers, and many of my former classmates. It includes many of my former elders, deacons, beloved brothers and sisters, and several preaching colleagues. All of this is to emphasize just how real this Psalm is for us, who are seniors, and should be for believers of all ages.
Just before the verses quoted, the Psalmist says:
“7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan. (NIV)
The verse I left off earlier says, “11 If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.” Indeed, he speaks a great deal about God’s anger/wrath. That’s not simply an Old Testament perspective, it’s a Biblical perspective. But so is speaking of God’s love and mercy:
13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (NIV)
The wrath of God is real. The love of God is real. What is not real is an indifferent God. An indifferent God might excuse us, but what we need is forgiveness. An indifferent God would not send His Son, but Jesus came.
Because our God, out of both His wrath and love, sent Jesus, we can and should “sing for joy and be glad all our [fleeting] days.” In 1929, Albert E. Brumley took the Psalmist’s words about the end of our quickly passing days, “and we fly away,” and wrote one of the most recorded gospel songs ever written.
Was the song, “I’ll Fly Away,” written because Brumley misunderstood this Psalm? I rather believe that it was because he understood the Gospel that turns our death in Christ into a moment of gain and victory. Life in this world flies by, and we ought to see each day as a gift of God’s grace to be received with thanksgiving and renewed commitment. Yet, in Jesus, when we do fly away, we fly to where joys shall never end, and we are reunited with all those in Christ whose names were called!
Tim Kelley