Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 28 June 2014 "Make the work of our hands last!"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Saturday, 28 June 2014 "Make the work of our hands last!"
Daily Scripture: Psalm 90:13 Relent, Yahweh![Psalm 90:13 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.]
    How long?
    Have compassion on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work appear to your servants;
    your glory to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands.
Reflection Question:
Psalm 90 was a poem that reflected on how fragile and temporary our human life seems (cf. Psalm 90:3-6). In and of itself, that can be a deeply depressing reality, making life and work seem pointless. But the perspective of this hopeful Israelite hymn stretched well beyond the boundaries of this life. Its final prayer focused on our eternal God, and asked God to make our work have such positive impact that it would last, not just for a few years but for eternity.
Human arrogance wants our accomplishments to be permanent. Hitler spoke of a 1,000 year Reich, but it lasted barely a decade. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, given a vision in which a number of kingdoms succeeded his, defiantly built an all-gold image to claim his kingdom would last forever (cf. Daniel 2-3). But many Israelites lived to see mighty Babylon fall. List the most important types of "work" (paid or unpaid) you are doing. Then, over that work, pray the prayer of Psalm 90:17, asking God to do what you cannot do—to make the impact of your work truly lasting for all eternity.
Family Activity:
Consider growing the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22[22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,[Galatians 5:22 or, faithfulness]) in your lives this summer!.]
Assign each aspect of the Spirit's fruit to one week of the summer. During that week, pray about and practice that part of the fruit. For example, this week, you might want to focus on love by studying verses on love in Scripture and finding Bible stories about God's love. Share God's love with one another and your community with your word and actions. Remember, you don't have to grow any fruit of the Sprit in big, fancy ways. When we are open to God growing us through the Holy Spirit, everyday acts will help produce delicious fruit! Pray daily, asking God to grow His garden of fruit in your heart and lives!
Today's Prayer:
God, you built me to work. Guide me to the work of greatest significance you are calling me to do. And, Lord God, by your power at work through me, make the work of my hands last. Amen.
Insight from Todd Maberry
Todd Maberry is an Associate Pastor at The Church of the Resurrection’s Downtown campus.
Psalm 90 is distinctive among the 150 psalms because it is the only one that claims Moses as its author. Did Moses really compose the psalm? Perhaps, but a far more interesting exercise than the impossible task of discovering the true author is to read the Psalm through the lens of Moses’ story.[Psalm 90: A Prayer by Moses, the man of God.[Psalm 90:1 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).]
1 Lord,[Psalm 90:1 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”] you have been our dwelling place for all generations.
2     Before the mountains were born,
    before you had formed the earth and the world,
    even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
3 You turn man to destruction, saying,
    “Return, you children of men.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past,
    like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away as they sleep.
    In the morning they sprout like new grass.
6 In the morning it sprouts and springs up.
    By evening, it is withered and dry.
7 For we are consumed in your anger.
    We are troubled in your wrath.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days have passed away in your wrath.
    We bring our years to an end as a sigh.
10 The days of our years are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty years;
    yet their pride is but labor and sorrow,
    for it passes quickly, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of your anger,
    your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?
12 So teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Relent, Yahweh![Psalm 90:13 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.]
    How long?
    Have compassion on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work appear to your servants;
    your glory to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands.]
In thinking about Moses’ story in the light of work, he had 3 separate careers. His first career role was an Egyptian Prince. It was a career that he was born into, and he stayed in for about 40 years until he got involved in a conflict that made it impossible for him to stay in the job. He quit and picked up a much more humble position – as a shepherd of someone else’s flock in the desert out in the middle of nowhere. He stayed in this job for another 40 years until God talked to him through a burning bush and convinced him to make a radical career change. It was in his last 40 years that Moses had his most vibrant job as the leader of a new nation. The skills required for his job included conflict management, logistics and operations, strategic planning and vision casting, navigation, and communications director on behalf of God.
By any measurement, Moses lived an incredible life and his story has been told and retold for thousands of years. It is difficult to imagine having a more illustrious career than Moses had. Take a moment and read Psalm 90 while remembering Moses’ remarkable life and career. [Go ahead, I will wait]…
As you just read, Psalm 90 is all about recognizing and lamenting the fragile and fleeting nature of human life when viewed in the light of God’s eternity. A thousand years to a human is like the passing of one day to God. Human life is kind of like grass, which seems like it is growing one day, but is cut and dies the next day. If that is how Moses felt, a person who lived one of the greatest lives in the history of humanity, how much more hopeless should we feel?
However, the psalm does not end with hopelessness. It ends with a beautiful and humble prayer – “God, make the work of our hands last.” And God promises to answer that prayer through the work of Christ. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God invites us to participate in God’s eternity. The particular way Jesus lovingly lived his life will not, and cannot, die. If the work of our hands is infused with the same love that Christ demonstrated, God promises the benefit that it will not and cannot die or fade away. Sign me up for that kind of work!
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