Life is short

 Psalm 90:12

How to Enjoy a Lifetime of Favour

When I was at university I was taken to hear a talk entitled, ‘Where will you be in ten years’ time?’ It was intended to be an encouragement to us to persevere in our faith in spite of all the challenges that life would hold after university. All that I can remember is thinking *at the time*, ‘Ten years! That is a lifetime away.’ I could not even begin to imagine that far ahead. *Now*, by contrast, I look back at my life and ten years ago seems like yesterday. Life has flown past. It seems to be accelerating at an alarming rate. I now understand the wisdom of those who encouraged us early on to take a long view. We live in a society of instant gratification. Instant meals. Instant messaging. Instant cash. Instant loans. Instant fake tans. Instant fortunes won. There is a great danger of short-termism. The passages for today remind us that God is the ‘everlasting God’ (Isaiah 40:28). God views things through a wide-angled lens: he takes a long view and he wants you to enjoy a lifetime of his favour (Psalm 30:5).

Psalm 30:1-7

The long view of life

Are you going through a difficult time? Do you wonder whether it will last for ever?

God’s ‘favour lasts a lifetime’ (v.5). As David looked back on his life, he was filled with thankfulness and ‘praise’ (v.4). Yes, he had been through some very difficult times. But God ‘lifted [him] out of the depths and did not let [his] enemies gloat over [him]’ (v.1). When he called to God for help, God ‘healed’ him (v.2).

‘God, my God, I yelled for help
and you put me together.
God, you pulled me out of the grave,
gave me another chance at life
when I was down-and-out’ (vv.2–3, MSG).

David had times when God was angry with him (v.5) and where God hid his face from him (v.7b). (After all, David did commit adultery and murder.) Yet, as he looked back on his life he was able to see that the moments of trial and testing were in the context of a lifetime of God’s favour.

Father, thank you that your anger lasts only a moment but your favour lasts a lifetime. Thank you that you are the same yesterday, today and for ever and I can trust you