You have been our dwelling place in all generations

Psalm 90-91 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90 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.

⁷ For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. ⁸ You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. ⁹ For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. ¹⁰ As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.
¹¹ Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? ¹² So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

¹³ Do return, O Lord; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.
¹⁴ O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. ¹⁵ Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. ¹⁶ Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children. ¹⁷ Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

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. ⁹ For 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.”

It is interesting that these psalms are headed by the words, a prayer of Moses, man of God. It’s not that it is surprising that Moses is called a man of God. Surely Moses is one of the great men of God, being both a leader of the people and also having an intimate relationship with God. The interesting part is that much of Moses life was spent as a person without a home. As a child he went from birth to the house of Pharaoh’s daughter, yet it was his own mother who nursed and nurtured him. When he left Egypt he lived as a nomadic shepherd and of course when he led the Israelites out of Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. This man, who knew very little of what it means to have a residence, says:   Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations…  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!”   No matter the situation or the location, God was his dwelling place. He made his abode in the Lord. Moses knew what it was like to feel as though he was seprated from the Lord because of circumstances. He says:  We have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.  For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.  As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.  Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?  So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.   He continues his entreaty to God saying: Do return, O Lord; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.  O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.  Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil.  Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children.  Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.   Moses acknowledges that God’s anger toward people is justified. He appeals to the loving kindness of God. He longs for the joy and gladness of the Lord’s presence. We need not be afraid of God’s presence, rather we should fear being apart from Him.  I would differ with what Moses says only in that it is not God who needs to return to His people. He never leaves us or forsakes us. It is a promise we have in Deuteronomy 31:6:  “The Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”   We are the ones who must return to God when we have wandered from Him; when we have sought refuge in the things of the world. He has been and will be our dwelling place for generations, for generations past and generations to come, forever.

Look at the benefits we receive as we dwell and abide in God:  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. You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.  You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.  God speaks back to Moses prayer. That is a vital part of prayer we often neglect, listening to God. Here God speaks saying:  “Because he has loved Me, therefore 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.”   Romans 8:31-39 says:  If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;  who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For 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.   The only thing that can separate us from the love of God; from the protection and provision of His abiding presence, is our own wandering from Him. If we will remain under the shadow and the shelter of God; if we will abide in and make Him our dwelling place, nothing can separate us from His love. We will be satisfied in life and know His salvation.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; I desire to dwell and abide with You and in You. If ever I wander, call me and draw me back; that I might know Your loving Kindness; Your protection and provision; that I can live with confidence knowing nothing or no one can separate me from Your love, in Christ Jesus my Lord.  Amen.