Wisdom for a New Year

Passage: Psalm 90

When you read through it start to finish, Psalm 90 seems like a real downer. The author (identified in the preface as Moses) goes on and on about the fleeting nature and apparent futility of human life. “Our days pass by with a whimper”; “We are like the grass, which springs up in the morning, but by evening dries up and blows away.” The musings of a guy in mid-life crisis.

But when you look more closely, you realize that there are rhetorical reasons for the author's ruminations. He’s highlighting our weakness and finitude in order to amplify his main focus: the limitlessness of God. This is a psalm of praise. And it is a declaration of hope. Why has God been our dwelling place throughout all generations? Because God is the only one whose abiding presence spans the generations. God’s provision, compassion, and care form an unchanging and unshakeable foundation. The final appeal of the Psalm – May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands! – rests on the assumption that the only way our efforts and our lives will have lasting significance is if we offer them to God. In God’s hands, the minute threads of our lives are woven into the eternal tapestry of his redemption plan.

Wisdom, as referred to in the Old Testament, is not intelligence or savvy. Best understood, it is the capacity to discern and follow God’s will. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament (comprised of Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes) is based on the assumption that the best way to live is God’s way. The assumption underlying Psalm 90 is that life is transient and meaningless unless it is lived in close relationship with the living, eternal God. True wisdom is seeking God’s will. The one who is truly wise offers one’s work and one’s very self to God. In God's hands everything that we have and everything we are acquires eternal significance and ultimate worth.