Psalm 102:11-12 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
Time and Eternity
Are you on time? Do you watch time? I have an atomic watch because time is pretty important. It's the stuff of which life is made, at least right here, right now. Yet, time is something that describes the difference between God and me.
Psalm 102:1-3 says, "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke." Verse 11 says, "My days are like a shadow." What the psalmist is saying is, "God help me quickly! I need it today." Why was his request so urgent? It is because we humans live in this day. God, however, fills eternity.
In contrast, verse 12 says, "But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations." Verse 13 has a reference to time and the set time. In verse 24 it says, "In the midst of my days." The psalmist is making reference to his life in contrast to God's years that are "throughout all generations." Verse 25 says, "Of old hast thou made the foundation of the earth." He says in verse 26, "They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment." Verse 27 says, "But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end."
We live in this day; God fills eternity. How can God fill eternity when eternity is limitless and has no end? That is precisely the point. Only God could fill something that has no measure and cannot be filled. The difference between me and God is the same as the difference between time and eternity. God is not old. God is ancient, eternal. Eternal is not long in time; it is the absence of time. It is not a measurement of time; it is totally different than time.
God is not just a super version of me. "I have time; God has more time. I have some wisdom; God has more wisdom. I have strength; God has more strength." No, my days, my strength, and my life are measured, but God is infinite. I occupy a day; God fills eternity.
This truth helps my perspective. Perhaps I feel desperate or hurried today. Realize that while we are slaves to time, God is the Master of timing. God knows our need, and He is not limited by anything that might crush us.
It also helps us with our priorities. Someone has said, "A lack of time is really a lack of priorities." If you can't get done all you need to do, you are going to have to jettison something and make a priority of something else. What we ought to make a priority today is eternity, not today. The things we do today effect eternity. When you feel rushed by time and crushed by the day, look to the God Who controls eternity.
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