Lesson 365: "Frustrated Leader"
Psalms 90 through 106 are mostly anonymous but all but a few agree that Moses wrote Psalm 90 and in most bible versions it bears the title; “A prayer of Moses, the man of God”. If indeed Moses was the author of Psalm 90 this is the oldest of the 150 psalms. We do not know the occasion or circumstance of the psalm but the contrasts between the eternal God and the finite human is strong.
I sense a bit of frustration in this prayer from Moses and I feel the pain he suffered over the sins of God’s people. I am going to go against the commentaries here and put this Psalm in Exodus chapter 32. Moses was on the mountain experiencing spiritual triumph. Meanwhile, down below, the Israelites were sinking low into the pit of rebellion, fear and idolatry, violating the brand new Commandment, “you shall not make for yourselves an idol” (Ex. 20:4).
The psalmist acknowledged the power of the almighty God. He had experienced the wrath and the glory of God and read the signs pointing to the consumption of man because of their sins. He prayed that God continue to show favor and mercy to His weak people. Moses was a leader, an aggressive leader but the monotonous routine he endured was wearing on his nerves. This prayer could have been a means of “blocking it all out” and maintaining his sanity. I think he would have handed over the reins of leadership to God and sped back to his easy life of tending sheep if only God would have allowed this. But God had chosen Moses to be a leader just as men here on earth today are chosen to be leaders.
We all have a leader throughout our lifetime. Even if we reach the top we still have a leader. Moses was the top man over the Israelites but yet his father-in-law stepped in to lead him into a wise decision (Ex. 18:17-26). We may not always have a personal choice of our earthly leader but for sure we can decide who our heavenly leader is. We can kick and complain and buck up against His leadership and die in the desert (Num. 14:26-35) or be a Caleb. Caleb followed quietly and submissively and along with Joshua entered the Land God promised to the Israelites (Num. 14:30).
One more thing to take note of is that if you are a leader you like Moses will be responsible for those you lead and if your frustration grows so that you are fighting against God then you too will be denied the earthly blessings of God (Deut. 34:4-5). If you are a leader or a follower, pick a psalm and make it your prayer. I have chosen Psalm 141.