Sermonette: Psalms 90-100 (1993)

#097s
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 16-Oct-93; 18 minutes

Mention the Psalms to most people and they will say that they are songs that they receive a great deal of comfort from. Or that they are wonderful poetry and they are very relaxing, or that they are part of Scripture that they turn to most often.

But the Psalms are really much more than that. Within them are Christian living principles, doctrine, history, and prophecy. Some have called Psalm 22, which you remember starts out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” the fifth gospel because it so clearly prophesied the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Other psalms treat other aspects of prophecy, and you just have to go through the Bible and look at them, like Psalm 2, “Why do the nations make plans in vain?” It is one of our songs that we sing. But today we are going to look at eleven psalms—Psalm 90 through Psalm 100, and we are going to look at them as a series of psalms that look to our day, that prophesy about our day and to the years just ahead. And you should also be able to see from these 11 psalms a time progression as we go through them.

Many of you are aware that my dad spent three sermons covering six verses in Psalm 23, but with this sermonette, I do not intend to do any great detail on these psalms. I cannot when I have to cover 11 chapters in just about 15 minutes. So we will just pick out a few verses in each chapter to get the gist of it, to let you understand the theme, and then it will be your job later on to study them at your leisure.

Psalm 90 (we will start just right there at the beginning) is ascribed to Moses. And the next ten—91 through 100—are anonymous. If you look in your Bible, you will see the translators of the Bible have put a note in there saying that this is a psalm of David, or this is a miktam of David, or however they do it. Well, Psalm 90, it says, “A prayer of Moses the man of God,” and the next 10 are anonymous. But Jewish tradition says that those ten psalms—91 to 100—are also Moses’ psalms, because they say that little note on Psalm 90 introduces the next eleven. The next one [with a note] you come to is Psalm 101, and it says, “A Psalm of David." So they say that all 11 of these psalms are Moses’. And some go as far as to say that Moses actually intended these to be one psalm. But later on, the editors broke them up into eleven sections. Some have gone so far as to say that this is actually the completion of the Song of Moses that you will find in Deuteronomy 32 and 33.

Remember, Moses is called a prophet. In Deuteronomy 18:15-19, he was the prophet that Israel was supposed to look to as a guide to recognize the Messiah. It says there, “A prophet like [Moses] would come,” and so he is very much linked with Jesus. And we know that Jesus Himself was a prophet. He prophesied many things, so it is not uncommon to think that Moses would have some prophecies in the Bible other than the ones that we have in the Pentateuch, like the Song of Moses; the blessings and the cursings; and the prophecy about the tribes of Israel, etc. So, this should give you a little background so we understand this section a little better.

The Psalms can be broken down into 5 books. Most of you probably already know this. But the first book is Psalm 1 through Psalm 41. The second book is Psalm 42 through 72. The third book is 73 through 89. Then book four would be Psalm 90 through Psalm 106. And then the last book, the fifth book, would be 107 through 150. So Psalm 90 begins the fourth book, and it is the theme for the whole thing; some have labeled this fourth book as, “God reigns.”

Psalm 90, let us read verses 10 through 13 to get the theme of this. This is a very commonly used scripture here.

Psalm 90:10-13 The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants.

Here we have the setting being set for the next 10 songs. The theme here is that we are nothing compared to God; our days are just a few. And so we have to pray to God for two things: One is the understanding so we can learn how to number our days. Meaning, basically, that we want understanding so we can live the way God wants us to, and use the time wisely, which is very important to think about as we go into these next psalms, using the time wisely, that is. And the second thing is that we pray for Christ to return.

Now we see the time setting. It is very close to where we are now. Psalm 91. We do not want to spend a whole lot of time on each one of these; [but] just to get the gist of it. We will read verses 1 and 2 and then skip down to 7 and 8.

Psalm 91:1-2 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."

Psalm 91:7-8 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.

Now in my Bible I put in my margin here, “This is the Place of Safety psalm.” This is a psalm where God promises His people safety. And within it, not only in these verses that we read, but in all 16 verses, is God's promise that He will bring us through tribulation—whatever trials that come upon us. So, we can see we have moved forward just a little bit. Now the saints are being protected by God.

Psalm 92:1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High.

Psalm 92:10-13 But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies; my ears hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.

The time setting I put on this is right on the eve of Christ's return, or just at Christ's return, because here we see the exaltation of the saints. And they are then shown to be in the house of the Lord and flourish in His courts. We are going to be kings and priests, and this may be one way to look at that.

If you look at the note at the beginning, it is called a Sabbath song. And I think of it as something maybe that the Israelites might have sung on the eve of the Sabbath, as they were preparing to go into the Sabbath, and this would correspond with the eve of the Millennium since the Sabbath is a type of that.

Psalm 93:1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.

Psalm 93:5 Your testimonies are very sure; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, forever.

Christ has returned in strength as King of kings and Lord of lords, and He has returned in holiness. Not only that, but we have been planted in the house of God. Now this house is holy. They have already been sanctified, and not only that, they are holy forever. So the change has come.

Psalm 94:1-2 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs—O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render punishment to the proud.

Psalm 94:20-23 Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You? They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood. But the LORD has been my defense, and my God the rock of my refuge. He has brought on them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; the LORD our God shall cut them off.

Here we see Christ returns as Judge. Not just as King of kings to rule, but He comes as Judge, and He judges the wicked who we see have persecuted the righteous. I was trying to remember the verse this morning, and I could not quite search it out, but I believe it is in Revelation somewhere where it talks about, “How long, oh Lord, will we have to wait until you have executed judgments against our enemies?” That is what I see happening here.

Psalm 95:1-3 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods.

Psalm 95:6-8 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness.”

This is also another Sabbath song. We have to make sure that we understand that in this sense the Sabbath is standing for the Millennium. And this is a prayer, or maybe I should say, a summons to Israel to return to God in obedience. He is telling them there, “Let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord our Maker.” We are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. And he goes into this warning them not to do the same thing that they did in the wilderness. He is giving them another chance. He is giving the people of Israel another chance to finally do what He had wanted them to do in the wilderness. So we see this progression: He is trying to get Israel to repent.

Psalm 96:10-13 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously." Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness; let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the LORD. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth.

This one is a lot like Psalm 94 where it is a psalm of praise that God is coming to reign and to judge. But this time we have brought in the nations.

Psalm 97:1-3 The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad! Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. A fire goes before Him, and burns up His enemies round about.

Psalm 97:10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

Like Psalm 93, He is returning in strength, but this time it shows Him destroying His enemies and preserving His saints as He comes. If you want to, you can compare this with Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19.

Psalm 98:1-3 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

This one is a song of praise that Christ has come, and that He reigns, and especially, as we see there in verse 3, He has fulfilled His promises. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel.

Psalm 99:1-4 The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved! The LORD is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy. The King's strength also loves justice; you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

Now we have the holy God sitting on His throne. He has also set His way as the law on the earth. And it is going to be executed and established. We are starting to get into the length of His reign now, not just that He has come and started ruling, but He is there, and He has established His law and His way of life as the way of life for the whole earth for those who choose to come under it.

Psalm 100:1-5 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

This psalm says, “Let us rejoice to our utmost because God is here to stay.” It is a psalm of praise that God is going to rule forever, and He will never be abrogated one way or another. And it is just the very climax of these eleven psalms; that He is here now, and He is not going away. Finally, all of our hopes have been fulfilled!

So I have brought you through eleven psalms in about 18 minutes. I hope that you can see the whole panorama of end time events mostly centering on the reign of God after He has come, but I think it is very much to our advantage if we look closely at Psalm 90 and 91 at this time, so that we can remember that He will protect us, but also that we have to do our part in numbering our days, as it says there, so that we will gain a heart of wisdom, and be prepared for Christ's return.

I hope that this has opened up a new area of study for you, that you would look into other psalms on other areas of this book. Do the same thing that I have done, and really look into it, and see it from a prophetic point of view.

RTR/rwu/drm