Moses Considers God

Hundreds of years after Moses, Daniel the prophet had a vision of the times of the Gentile Empires. In that vision Daniel in the 7th chapter, three times calls God, “the ancient of days.” “vs. 9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.”

Moses in his prayer says to God, the Ancient of Days, "From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.”

The prophet Malachi 3:6 speaks in God’s own voice and says, “For I am the Lord, I change not”

Paul in Hebrews 13:8  says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever”

All of these tell us that God is eternal. Now there is a difference having immortality and being eternal. Actually, man is immortal, he has a soul that will never cease to exist, but God, as Moses, Malachi and Paul tell us, is eternal. He has neither beginning nor ending. Moses said that God existed before the mountains, the oldest thing that Moses could imagine. But God was older and in truth, He brought those valleys and peaks into existence.

Moses also says that God has infinite power. Power so great that he could destroy man and then say return and man would return from that destruction. This is probably in reference to the nation of Israel but it applies to any tribe, peoples, kingdoms or nation.

Moses continues and says that to God, “a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday.”

What Moses is describing are the attributes or characteristics of God. Especially His eternity and His omnipotence and this is the first part of what we must learn from Psalm 90…
The Lesson Of God's Greatness

We will never learn the lesson or understand the prayer of Moses in Ps 90, unless we see God the way that Moses saw God. No, not with these physical eyes but with the eyes of our soul and heart. Let me amplify the attributes of God a bit so that we can better understand the One we must know in order to learn how to make our life count.

First, The Eternity of God

By the eternity of God we mean His infinity in relation to time, we mean that He is without beginning or end; that He is free from all succession of time; and that He is the cause of time- Henry Thiessan

Isaiah echoing God’s voice in 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

The Omniscience of God

By the omniscience of God we mean that He knows Himself and all other things, whether they be actual or merely possible, whether they be past, present, or future, and that He knows them perfectly and from all eternity. - Henry  Thiesan

Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done…

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

He knows everything about everything and everybody all the time. Also, he knows the future no less than the past and the present, and possible events that never happen no less than the actual events that do. J. I. Packer, Concise Theology

The Omnipresence of God

God is in all places at all times.  He is present everywhere, always.

Psalms 139: 7-10 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD

The Omnipotence of God

By the omnipotence of God, we mean that God can do anything He wills.- Henry Thiesan

Job 42:2  I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

Jeremiah 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

Matthew 19:26b ...with God all things are possible.

Omnipotence means in practice the power to do everything that in His rational and moral perfection (i.e., His wisdom and goodness) God wills to do. … all that He wills and promises, He can and will do. - J. I. Packer, Concise Theology

Moses Sees God At Sinai

Moses is qualified to write this prayer and teach us this life lesson because he was one of a handful of people who entered into the presence of God. He saw more of God than any other man in the Old Testament. Moses was allowed to glimpse the glory of God on Mt. Sinai, first in the burning bush and then even more dramatically and fully on the top of the mount when receiving the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 33:17-22  And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD Jehovah before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

When Moses descended back to the camp, his encounter with God was so incredible, that the skin of his face glowed. Exodus 34:30 “And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.”

Like Moses, we must also know God, not on top of Mt. Sinai but in a much fuller revelation, through Jesus Christ. Like Moses, we must know the Lord as friend as incredible as that seems.  This is the first part of the lesson of making life and the eternity that follows count.