December 6, 2009 (Numbers 15, Psalm 90)

Numbers 15:2b “When you finally settle in the land I am going to give you, ³ and you want to please the Lord with a burnt offering or any other offering given by fire, the sacrifice must be an animal from your flocks of sheep and goats or from your herds of cattle.

The word that stuck out to me when I read this was "your". It reminded me of another verse (not sure where it's found, but I think it was David that said it): "I will not give the Lord that which costs me nothing."

^{Numbers 15:37} Then the Lord said to Moses, ³⁸ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord. ³⁹ When you see the tassels, you will remember and obey all the commands of the Lord instead of following your own desires and defiling yourselves, as you are prone to do. ⁴⁰ The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all my commands and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the Lord your God!”

I wonder if this is where the WWJD bracelet idea came from?

This reading section ends with a prayer of Moses from Psalm 90. (That's why I like reading the Bible this way...you can read the songs and prayers of these men as you read the stories of their lives.) I'm going to copy it in it's entirety below, as it seems to be the only recorded Psalm of Moses. Probably the most "famous" verse of this Psalm is verse 12 - "Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom." Other versions read "Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom." Even though my Bible is The New Living Translation, some verses are different in my Bible and The New Living Translation that is referenced in biblegateway.com. I'm not really sure why that is, but you can see this difference if you compare the verse below with the one I wrote above. If anyone out there is reading this, have a great day!

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

¹ Lord, through all the generations
you have been our home!
² Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from beginning to end, you are God.

³ You turn people back to dust, saying,
“Return to dust, you mortals!”
⁴ For you, a thousand years are as a passing day,
as brief as a few night hours.
⁵ You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.
They are like grass that springs up in the morning.
⁶ In the morning it blooms and flourishes,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
⁷ We wither beneath your anger;
we are overwhelmed by your fury.
⁸ You spread out our sins before you—
our secret sins—and you see them all.
⁹ We live our lives beneath your wrath,
ending our years with a groan.

¹⁰ Seventy years are given to us!
Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear, and we fly away.
¹¹ Who can comprehend the power of your anger?
Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
¹² Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom.

¹³ O Lord, come back to us!
How long will you delay?
Take pity on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
¹⁵ Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
Replace the evil years with good.
¹⁶ Let us, your servants, see you work again;
let our children see your glory.
¹⁷ And may the Lord our God show us his approval
and make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!