Bill Baltz
Reading and studying the Psalms recently, the hymnal right in the middle of my Bible,
I was challenged and unnerved by Psalm 90, a prayer of Moses, wondering, “is he getting in God’s face?” I discovered the standard dictionary explained the saying as “involving confrontation.” The “slang” version further explained it as “done, expressed, or presented in a bold, direct, and often aggressive way.” Now I was captured. Would someone as renowned as Moses approach the almighty God in what some might think of as a disrespectful manner?
Will you join me in briefly unraveling Psalm 90 in the limited amount of space we have?
In verses one and two, God’s great leader begins by saying “Lord (Master) you have been our dwelling place (habitation, refuge) before the mountains were born or You created the earth … from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” I began to be more comfortable as he started the conversation.
Beautifully, crafting words in verses 3-6, he expounds on how his God is the author, finisher, and steward of all human life – “returning us to dust … like withered grass in the evening … in the sleep of death.” For a man who was challenged in public speaking, he sure could write.
One of the ways Hebrew poetry is structured is to “come to the point” or put the main issue in the center of the writing and then began to unravel and resolve the issue as the psalm moves to a conclusion.
Heavy words come, “We are consumed by Your anger … terrified by Your indignation. You have set our iniquities (perversity, depravity) before You … days pass away under Your wrath … we finish with a moan!” “We have 70, maybe 80 years if we have the strength … yet their span is but trouble and sorrow … as we quickly pass and fly away.” Now, Moses begins to ask God for compassion on His servant, who lives under divine wrath. He adds, “Who knows the power of Your anger?”
Having vented, Moses now asks God to “teach us to number (reckon) our days – that we may gain a heart of wisdom and be glad all our days.” One more shot is fired as Moses empties himself: “Relent, (back off?) O Lord. Have compassion on Your servants.”
Submitting and releasing to the Lord’s authority, He asks to be “satisfied in the morning with Your unfailing love … make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted and troubled us. May Your deeds be shown to us and Your splendor to our children.” Moses now wishes, ”May the favor of the Lord rest upon us … and establish the work of our hands”
Seemingly releasing his defiance, and despair, I’m satisfied, as Moses honestly acknowledges his guilt before the unfailing love of God. I finish remembering the words of a great song: “look full in His wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”
Do you need to “get in God’s face” sometimes in honest prayer? I do.
Pastor Bill Baltz is a member of the Carson Valley Ministers’ Association.
