“For Such a Time as This”
(Psalms 89-91 and Selected Scriptures)
The Greenhouse ~ 1st Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today is the first Sunday of what the church calendar calls ordinary time. Ordinary, however, doesn’t mean mundane, but rather ordinal—numbered. So we are in the first Sunday after Trinity Sunday (or second Sunday after Pentecost). The church calendar begins with Advent, moves to Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday), then 50 days of Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, then ordinary time, which ends with Christ the King Sunday before Advent. Advent through Pentecost tell the story of Jesus; ordinary time tells the story of the church. After the feasts and fasts, ceremonies and celebrations, of the seasons and story of Jesus, ordinary time can seem dull and monotonous. But this is actually part of the point. Ordinary time reminds us of the challenges of life, the trials of the times we live in, and the patient waiting and expectancy of the return of Christ. So as we enter into Ordinary Time, I want to speak today about time.
One of the more moving moments in The Lord of the Rings comes in The Fellowship of the Ring when Frodo is speaking with Gandalf. Faced with impossible trials, many fears, and world falling under deep darkness and evil, Frodo says to Gandalf, “I wish it need not have happened in my time.” Gandalf responds, “So do I […] and so do all who live to see such time. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” Gandalf’s advice is good, and true, and beautiful, but it is certainly not easy.
The challenge of facing difficult times, however, is not limited to Middle Earth or 2023. Much of human history provides us with stories of deep darkness and evil and also the stories of courageous persons who lived honorable lives in the midst of such times. The Book of Esther tells of one such trying time, when the Persian King Ahasuerus is prepared to take Haman’s advice and slaughter the Jewish people. When Mordecai learns of this plan, he tells his niece Esther, who has become wife to the king. His words in Esther 4:14 show his confidence in God that deliverance will rise for the Jews in some form and in some place, but he then issues these famous words as a charge for Esther to act and not await some other solution: “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
In our present day, we see wickedness abounding, suffering and persecution around the world, and many, many things that we could worry about or wish were not true about our world. Indeed, God can bring deliverance through many means, but if we heed Mordecai’s words, perhaps we have been sent to this place “for such a time as this.” Perhaps God has something for us to do in this moment, in our context, that will be the means by which he brings deliverance to the oppressed, safety to those in danger, homes for those in need, and the gospel for those who do not know God through Jesus and His atoning work.
But if we are to live as people who can live out God’s calling in this time, we must be determined enough to act, courageous enough to act, and instructed enough to know how to act. Psalms 89-91, which form the end of Book III and beginning of Book IV of the Psalms, tell us about our human lives and how to live.
Psalms 89 is a lament Psalm that expresses the psalmist’s belief that the Davidic Covenant has failed. He writes in verses 38-39, “You have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust.” The psalmist not only contends that God has cut short the days of the anointed one’s youth (v. 45), but also calls upon God to remember “how fleeting is my life” (v. 47). He continues, “For what futility you have created all humanity! Who can live and not see death, or who can escape the power of the grave?” The psalmist fears that his life will end in despair that God has failed to fulfill His promise to David. But Psalm 90 picks up this fear and this theme of time.
Labeled as a psalm of Moses, Psalms 90 hearkens back to a time long before God’s promise to David, rather to God’s promise to Israel. To the Lord, the one who brought forth the whole world (v. 2), a thousand years are like a day (v. 4). Yet for human beings, whose days are seventy or eighty years (v. 10), they may live their entire lives and die in the passing of time under God’s anger without ever seeing His deliverance. The LORD, remember, is patient, and if a thousand years are as a day, then He need not be in any hurry to act. But for us whose lives are seventy to eighty years, we feel God is absent. In response, the psalmist prays that God may “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (v. 12). We will return to this prayer in a moment, but the psalms in this sequence still have more to say.
Psalms 91 teaches us how to live a life that leads to the promise of the concluding verse (v. 16): “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” How do we live our lives in such a time as this in a way that leads to such peace? Psalms 91:1-2 give a beautiful answer: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”
The New Testament, as we would expect, picks up on these themes. Jesus chastises the crowds in Luke 12 for knowing how to predict the weather but not knowing how to interpret their present times. This chastisement ought to prompt us to learn how to live for such a time as this. To pine for days of old, to wish we lived in another era, as understandable as such a practice is, fails to honor God’s design in placing us in this era, in this time, in this place, in this moment, to act in godly ways to bring about His purposes. Paul speaks similarly in Ephesians 5 when he tells the church to be wise and careful how they live, make the best use of time because the days are evil. The best use of time is not wishing we did not live in a such a time as this, but rather resting in the shadow of the Almighty and seeking His wisdom for how to live in such a time as this.
I return, then, to the prayer in Psalms 90:12—teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. I think this prayer is the heart of Paul’s exhortation to make the best use of time. As much as we may wish, like Frodo, that we didn’t live in these days, here we are. I understand the anxiety, the debilitating fear, and more that come with such times. I’m not expressing judgment or disappointment in any who feel that. It’s natural. In fact, it’s almost supernatural, for the God-Man Jesus faced trials and asked His Father that the cup may pass from Him. To feel fear, to feel overwhelmed, to feel as though you have nothing left to give—our Lord felt them all. Don’t heap guilt upon yourself for such feelings, for those feelings are not sinful—they’re human. But…like Jesus, we are called to rest in the shadow of the Almighty, to place our yoke and burden upon our Savior Jesus, and to step courageously into the trial—not my will, but God’s be done. We may not see the deliverance; we may not see justice done on earth as it is in heaven; but it is certainly some day going to come. As Habakkuk 2 says, “If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come; it will not delay.” Why God waits is not our concern. Remember, a thousand years are as a day in His sight. It seems slow to us, but God’s patience in judgment is also the grace to provide time for more to repent and turn to Him.
So, our task is indeed expressed in Gandalf’s words: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” Take refuge in the Lord, rest in the shadow of the Almighty, and courageously make the best use of the time in evil days. You have been brought here for such a time as this, so follow Jesus in confidence because He has already walked this road and forged this path before us, and it is the path that leads to everlasting life with God. It will be hard, but it is worth it.
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