2 posts tagged “purpose”
Psalm 90 continues (verses 3-6),
You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning --
though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.
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As I meditated on these four verses from Psalm 90, I remembered the song "Dust in the Wind." It was written in 1977 by Kerry Livgren, when he wrote and played for the band Kansas. While playing "Dust in the Wind" one day at home, when his wife was doing laundry, she
told him he should put it on the album. Since the album had some extra
time available, he presented the song to the band and it was included on the "Point of Know Return" album,
becoming their highest charting single.
Livgren's song opens with these words:
"Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
I close my eyes
Only for a moment, then the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind."
If you've ever heard it performed, "Dust in the Wind" is a slow melody, well paired with the melancholy lyrics. It has somewhat the same feel and tone as Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller's song "Is That All There Is?" which was memorably sung by Miss Peggy Lee in 1969. The chorus expresses life's disappointments:
"Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing.
Let's break out the booze and have a ball,
if that's all there is."
Are we just dust in the wind? Are life's disappointments really all there is? Moses, here in Psalm 90, reflects on the meaning of life and its brevity. We do not hear Moses saying that life is without meaning and purpose in these verses. He is simply saying that our lives are in God's hands.
God made us from dust and then blew into us the breath of life. God's breath is in you and me. That essential part will never die. Our bodies grow, mature, and die. Compared to God's timeless nature though, we live brief lives, like new grass, which in the morning is green and bright, but by evening may be dry and withered.
Just think! The great God of heaven, the Creator of the earth, moon, stars, and universe, has put His stamp upon you and me. We are his. He is ours. We each have a purpose upon this earth, because life is preparation for eternity. Once we accept Christ as Lord and Savior and begin to live in Him, life takes on new, eternal meaning. Nothing in life or death can take us from God's love and His presence.
Paul Harvey has a daily radio broadcast on which he always tells a personal story in two parts. The second part is always "the rest of the story." I began by mentioning the author of "Dust in the Wind," Kerry Livgren. At the time he wrote the song, he did not know God and believe in Him. "The rest of the story" is that later, Kerry accepted Christ and became a Christian. Describing himself as a family man, he now teaches an Adult Sunday School Class at Topeka Bible Church in Topeka, Kansas.
Friend, if you are facing a time in your life when you are asking "Is That All There Is" and you look around you and wonder if you are just "Dust in the Wind," then I say to you, look to Moses' word here in Psalm 90. God has put His stamp upon your very being. You belong to Him. To God, you are not just "Dust in the Wind." You are of eternal worth to God!
Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Psalm 149:1
I like to sing. I have sung in choirs. I have sung solos. I have been in quartets. Singing lifts the heart and spirit. Singing take you to a higher plane of life.
The psalmist urges us to praise Lord. How do we do that?
Sing to the Lord a new song.
When I was in seminary, I learned in worship class that altar flowers should be fresh, not artificial. "Living flowers for a living Lord." It made sense.
It makes sense that my song should be fresh and new each day, too. "New songs for a God who loves the fresh and new."
It reminds me that God's favorite activity is being creative. God's always up to something new.
We stay young and vital when we remember that about God, and about ourselves.
We're made in God's image. We're made to be creative.
So today, I will sing God's new song.
I will fulfill the purpose for which God made me.
Praise the Lord!
