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Psalm 90:6, “…in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers…”
Psalm 90:14, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love…”
Short Thoughts:
Because our Lord and God passed through the night of death and secured the morning of resurrection life, we who sojourn in the night of this fallen world will wake to the morning of His steadfast love.
Long Thoughts:
Two quick notes here.
First, notice that it is the steadfast love of YHWH Himself that satisfies the human heart. And what is the longing satisfied by this love? Well, all throughout the Psalm, it seems the desire is for permanence of some kind, for security, for life that does not fade and wither like the grass under the wrath of God. It would seem that this desire, this longing, this deeply rooted need of the human soul is satisfied by the Steadfast Love of the Lord…..which is to say, by He Himself, His covenant faithfulness, His commitment to give Himself to His promised people for their good. He is their satisfaction in the morning, He is their permanence, He is their “dwelling place” (v.1). It is reconciled (ie, wrath-less) relationship to the covenant Lord that the Psalmist longs for, and he knows that this will come through the steadfast love of the Lord “in the morning.”
Note also the morning, evening, morning pattern:
In verse 6 were read that humanity flourishes in the morning, but fades and withers in the evening. And then, starting in verse 7, we have a description of the “evening” of God’s wrath….of the languishing and dismay and dissolution that pervades the dark night of wrath. But then, in verse 14 the Psalmist envisions the sureness of dawn and hopes in the morning—the morning that follows the Night of Wrath—hopes in the morning in which the steadfast love of YHWH will satisfy His people.
Might we not see a pattern here? Morning/day in verses 1-2, fading to evening in verses 3-6, night in verses 7-11, dawn to daybreak in verses 12-14 and day again in verses 15-17. What’s significant about that is that the “night” is not only death, but wrath. What sort of morning can repeal this? What sort of morning can illuminate the shadow of death—a shadow set in place by the just anger of God? Only the morning of resurrection. Only the dawn brought about when the Son of God Himself walks through the dark night and rises in victory for His people. Only when the steadfast love and faithfulness of YHWH overcomes every opposition in and against His people, bears their sins, swallows their wrath, consumes their death and takes up His life again in glory……that, ultimately, is morning for God’s people, the morning where steadfast love satisfies all those who were sitting under the Night of wrath……and that morning secures all mornings.
That morning, the morning of resurrection ensures that ALL of our nights—no matter how dark, no matter how horrible, no matter how long and withering—ALL of our nights will end with the morning, because this single great morning has dawned. Our Lord and our God will satisfy us in the morning with His steadfast love……Yes, we can say that, we can trust that, we can hold to that even in the darkest night, He WILL satisfy us in the morning with His steadfast love—hallowed be His name!
