From Everlasting (Psalm 90)

“From Everlasting (Psalm 90)” comes to us from Sovereign Grace Music. Written by Lisa Clow and Lacy Hudson in 2022, it’s a very new song compared to last week’s centuries-old hymn. This song beautifully captures the prayer of Moses that is Psalm 90.

VERSE 1
O God, before the mountains were brought forth
Or days of spring and summer filled the earth
From everlasting, You are God

VERSE 2
We dwell beneath the stars in ancient skies
A thousand years are nothing in Your sight
From everlasting, You are God

Moses writes in Psalm 90:2, “…from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.” This is not an easy concept for humans to understand. Not having an ending is palatable in the sense that we accept the concept of the Earth continuing long after we’re dead and gone like it has after our ancestors. But when we attempt to think about not having a beginning, that’s where I, maybe you too, struggle to comprehend.  To have always been, to always be, to have existence not bound by time, that is everlasting. And that is our God.

VERSE 3
O God, when joy and tragedy collide
And loss reminds us life is but a sigh
From everlasting, You are God

Moses so poetically paints the contrasting picture between God’s eternal nature and our human frailty. Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days” and from that action, we find just how fleeting human life really is. When you put yourself in Moses’ sandals, you can see where he’s coming from as he prays and writes. Think of what he’s seen the nation of Israel experience and endure. Think of what he’s seen God do, of which we only have the pre-cgi special effects of the 1956 epic, The Ten Commandments to help us visualize. Moses witnessed both the wrath and the mercy of God. The “joy and tragedy” happens in our lives without foreknowledge, and life is “but a sigh”. But God is everlasting – always, eternal, without end, and without beginning.

VERSE 4
O God of light our ways are known to You
But by Your grace You’re making all things new
So satisfy us in our numbered days
Establish every effort while we wait
From everlasting, You are God

By God’s grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness, we take steps on the path of life. It is easy to adopt the American way and think that our good health will carry us for many years to come, but we kid ourselves with that belief. Moses rightly requests God to “satisfy us” (v14) and to “establish the work of our hands upon us” (v17). It is only by God’s infinite power that the course of history is directed.

CHORUS
And all our days are held within Your hands
Your perfect love and favor have no end
We rest within the wisdom of Your plan
Everlasting God

As the chorus repeats throughout the song, we are focused continually on the everlasting perfect love and favor of God and the peace that passes all understanding in accompaniment. Life is so uncertain, unpredictable, and filled with questions. In “Everlasting God”, we find rest from all that anxious existence. “All our days are held within Your hands”, what a comforting thought.

 

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