Psalm 90 begins, [1] LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
[2] Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.[3] Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
[4] For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
[5] Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
[6] In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
"Everlasting to everlasting--what's that? Like a weaver's beam. It's like going to sleep, waking up, a third of my day's gone. It's just ffttoo, gone. It's like a flood coming, sweeping it away. Before I can get up, I'm gone.
"It's like grass growing and then, boom, the heat comes and kills it--in a day! That's a strange thing in that illustration. He doesn't even give the grass time to grow in the field for a month. It just sprouts out and then the heat comes and whoosh. He's talking about the brevity of your life.
"Verse 10: [10] The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
"That's where the song 'I'll Fly Away' came from. It's talking about death. That's why we change the words in that song from, 'When I die,' to 'When I rise,' because we don't fly away at death. We think of that song as talking about the resurrection at the Rapture and that doesn't take place at death; that takes place when the Lord comes.
"Verse 12: [12] So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
"We need to count one by one and live every day like it's the last day. That's in essence the issue here. Make everything out of every day you can.
"Verse 13: [13] Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
"That's that tribulation cry found in Revelation 6: [9] And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
[10] And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
"Go through all the Book of the Psalms, and if you look for that phrase 'how long' and find the text where it's found, you'll be finding a tribulation Jew, a member of the little flock crying out for the Lord for deliverance from the tribulation into the kingdom.
"When he says, 'Return, O Lord,' here's the faithful remnant looking for the Lord to come and deliver them.
" 'How long is it going to go on? Let it repent thee concerning thy servants.' I love that. In Jeremiah 18 they go to the potter's house and the Lord tells Jerry, 'Look at what's going on with the potter. He makes the vessel in his hand and it's marred and he pushes the clay back down and makes another vessel.'
"It's made, it gets marred and then he mends it. He takes that same lump of clay and reshapes it into another vessel. He says, 'That's the way I treat you; the way I treat Israel. If you obey my voice, I'll bless you. If you don't, well then I'll reshape you into a vessel of destruction. But if you come back, I'll reshape you into a vessel of mercy.' That's the illustration Paul uses in Romans 9.
"So when it says, 'Let it repent thee,' in other words, 'You planned wrath but we're going to believe. So change your mind about the destruction. We're returning.'
"Here's what they're crying for; they're asking the Lord to do what He intended to do. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, 'Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.'
"That's in essence what these guys are praying: 'You've got a plan for the earth; bring it on! We want to be a part of it!'
" 'Satisfy us early with thy mercy.' Don't wait! Come on, we're looking for you to come.' "
Here are lyrics to "I'll Fly Away":
I'll fly away
To that home on God's celestial shore
I'll fly away
I'll fly away, in the morning
When I die, Hallelujah by and by
I'll fly away
I'll fly away
Like a bird from these prison walls I'll fly
I'll fly away
I'll fly away, in the morning
When I die, Hallelujah by and by
I'll fly away
I'll fly away
No more cold iron shackles on my feet
I'll fly away
I'll fly away, in the morning
When I die, Hallelujah by and by
I'll fly away
I'll fly away, in the morning
When I die, Hallelujah by and by
I'll fly away
I'll fly away
To a land where joys will never end
I'll fly away
I'll fly away, in the morning
When I die, Hallelujah by and by
I'll fly away
(new article tomorrow for certain. Sorry for delay--I have been under the weather but still going to work.)
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