A dwelling place for all generations. Our dwelling place in this generation.

Psalm 90:1-6  91 from the daily reading in the One year Bible

God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness. A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. ² Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³ You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” ⁴ For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. ⁵ You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
⁶ In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away.

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” ³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. ⁴ He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; ⁶ Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. ⁷ A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. ⁸ You will only look on with your eyes  And see the recompense of the wicked. ⁹For you have made the  Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. ¹⁰ No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. ¹² They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. ¹³ You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down. ¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. ¹⁵ “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. ¹⁶ “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.”

Moses, the writer of Psalm 90 and perhaps the unknown writer of Psalm 91 was a man who knew God in a way that few people have known Him.  In Numbers 12:6-8, God said of Moses:  Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the Lord.    After Moses death, when God called Joshua to lead the Israelites, He said:   "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.    Perhaps it is the highest compliment and the highest calling of God to be called His servant. Each of us should live in such a way that at the end of our days we too would hear the Lord say:  Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness! (Matthew 25:21)   Moses is considered to be an Old Testament “type” of Christ. One who shares or portrays some of the qualities or characteristics of Christ. Like Jesus, Moses was born in obscurity, he was raised under the threat of being killed for being a Jewish boy. Like Jesus Moses was born to be a ruler of people. He was to be one who would deliver them from bondage and captivity.

In John 10:30, Jesus proclaims His equality with God, saying:  "I and the Father are one." In Psalm 90, Moses recognizes that he is not equal to God. He proclaims that man is temporary, finite and God is eternal. He says:  Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away.    Although even today, we cannot fully grasp the concept of eternity, Moses understands and tries to describe it for us. From everlasting to everlasting; a dwelling place for all generations; a thousand years like a watch in the night, these are the words Moses uses to describe the infinite, eternal God.

In psalm 91, the writer again speaks of dwelling with the Lord. He says:  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you.    Here we see the focus has shifted from what God is throughout the generations to what He is and does for each one in their own time. Regardless of what time in history, what time in eternity that we live, the promise is the same. The one who dwells and abides with God will be protected. Here instead of the focus being eternity, one a thousand years being compared to a few hours; the focus is on the infinite protection and blessings of God. For the one who abides and dwells with God, their circumstances and situation will be better than thousands who do not. God is faithful. In His presence there is nothing to fear. Another psalmist says: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me. (Psalm 23:4)   Even death is merely a shadow in the presence of God because He is eternal. In Romans 8:38-39 Paul says:  I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Death cannot separate us from the love of God because:  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  The circumstances of life cannot separate us from His love because Jesus says:  “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)  Jesus gives eternal Life for all who believe in Him; abundant life for all who dwell and abide with Him.

There was really only one or possibly a few generations who saw Jesus when He was here as a man. Just as Moses was a “type” of Christ in the Old Testament, pointing toward the deliverer who was to come; we too, are called to be ones who represent the character and the qualities of Christ to those who live in our time. We are to point to Him who has come, to the one who died on the cross for their sins. Like Moses, who was adopted into royalty; we too have been adopted into royalty. Romans 8:14-17 says:  As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We should live, like Moses, like Christ, as royalty among God’s people.

God’s promise to us and to all those throughout every generation who dwell and abide with Him is:  “I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.”    Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.