I suspect that all of us, at one time or another, have recited the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus intended for this prayer to form a pattern for all our prayers, and it begins with the words, “Our Father, who is in Heaven” (Mt. 6:9). Jesus wanted us to realize that because our Father is in Heaven, He sees things from His heavenly perspective, not ours. But first, whenever we talk about “time,” we need to begin with God Himself.
Most of us know Moses as the one who, after over four hundred years of slavery, delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, miraculously parting the waters and leading the people into the wilderness and to freedom. It was in the wilderness on Mt. Sinai that God gave Moses the civil, ceremonial, and moral commandments that would guide the nation. But few of us ever think of Moses as a “psalmist.” Interestingly, there is one Psalm, Psalm 90, that is attributed to Moses, and in that Psalm, Moses was led to talk about “Time.”
Moses addresses his Psalm directly to YHWH (Ps. 90:1-2). Those four letters are often called the “sacred tetragrammaton,” or the “sacred four letters.” When the Old Testament was originally written, the Israelites did not use vowels, which were added much later. And so, the proper name of God is “YHWH,” and with the addition of the vowels, His name is pronounced “Yahweh.” And so, Moses speaks directly to Him as he begins Psalm 90, affirming what is true about His nature.
Moses affirms that Yahweh has existed “from everlasting to everlasting,” and that He has been the “place of refuge” for the Israelites from “generation to generation.” When I was quite young, I used to drive my Sunday School teacher crazy by asking, “If God created the universe, then who created God?” In this Psalm (and elsewhere in the Old and New Testaments), Moses affirms the fact that God has always existed and that He has always been a place of refuge, or security, in times of trouble. Notice that this “place” of refuge is not actually a “place,” but a “Person.” It is Yahweh who is, and always has been, our true “dwelling place,” or “place of refuge.”
This aspect of God’s nature was reaffirmed by Jesus, God’s Son, as He entered Jerusalem for the last time saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling” (Mt. 23:37). And the Apostle Peter encourages all of us to “Cast all of our cares upon Him, because He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7). In short, Moses, Jesus, and Peter all affirm that Yahweh is the eternal God who not only cares for us, but who also invites us to trust Him with all our cares. I pray that this year we will not be too proud or too busy to actually ask Him to carry our burdens and meet our needs.
Moses also affirms the fact that although we are limited by time, Yahweh isn’t. From God’s perspective, “A thousand years are like yesterday when it passes by” (Ps. 90:4). However, we need to understand that although God isn’t limited by time, we should not assume that He doesn’t care about time. Because He is concerned about each of us, He knows that the needs we have are during “our time” on earth. In prayer, we ask God to consider our petitions, and by faith, we believe that He will answer “yes,” “no,” or “wait a little bit longer” in our time. And as soon as we submit our requests to Him, we can experience His peace (Phil. 4:6-7), knowing that He has heard our requests and will answer according to our best interests, in line with His plan for us.
As we begin the New Year, I’d like us to remember that our God is the “Everlasting God” and has always been a “Place of Refuge” for all who seek Him. And, I’d like us to remember that although “God is not bound by time, He is very concerned about our time.” Because of that, He invites us to bring our requests to Him. It is our responsibility to believe that because He is “Faithful,” He will hear and will respond accordingly. So, for those who are bound by time (and that’s all of us), let’s pray to our Heavenly Father who is not bound by time, and then expect Him to respond to our requests in our time, which in the end, will be His perfect time.
Comments(6)
Vivian Brumfield says
January 9, 2019 at 2:07 pmPastor Jim, I just celebrated my 90th birthday, which translates to 2/3rds of my life I have been under the care and protection of my Savior! Praise Him! I’m still in shock that I have lived this long. God has been so good over the years, and has brought numerous people into my life who have had a godly influence, and I definitely count you as one of them. Thank you for all the wisdom you have imparted to me, and for the friendship of both you and Peggy. I will treasure that always. God bless you richly.
Rufus C Crow says
January 7, 2019 at 5:44 pmThanks, Jim, well communicated. To God alone be the glory.
REVELATION 1:1-8 – The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw — that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” NIV
Rick Belda says
January 6, 2019 at 8:56 amGood morning Jim. It was good to hear from you. Yes, Kathy and I (or I, really) called it quits. It was finalized 12/2015. I was able to wait till the kids were 18 so it made things less complex. I was able to keep the house and am still in Rohnert Park. Kayleen, Kendra and Kathryn are in Huntington Beach. The twins are Instagram famous, whatever that means, and Kayleen is working and finding her way. She graduated from San Francisco State in 2017. Josh just finished at Chico State in December and will be working for an insurance company starting in June if all works out. He will be living in Chico. I attend Bayside Santa Rosa, which was Redwood Covenant Church, and work with the little ones. I hope things are well with you and your family. I really enjoyed reading your blog today and for me, it is timely, no pun intended. Happy New Year. Rick
Virginia L Lashbrook says
January 5, 2019 at 8:09 pmAmen. Isn’t it also a wonderful time of the year being Peggy’s birthday around this time?
Anita says
January 5, 2019 at 8:04 pmThanks jim. Still miss you &peggy and miss Ralph sooo much…hope this will be good year for you &peggy & all your family…God be with you…much love.
Joni Maffei says
January 5, 2019 at 2:20 pmAMEN
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