An Old Year's Night Meditation

The Puritans were known to take seasons as times for meditation on life and one's relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The turning of a new calendar year, to the Puritans, meant an opportunity to know Christ afresh and to grow more in love with Him. The book of Psalms was a favorite place from which to glean meditation on God's faithfulness and the weakness of our own faith and loyalty to Christ. It is important to follow this tradition as we welcome in the year 2006. May 2006 be a testimony of the faithfulness and goodness of Christ to His Church. Plead on the promise that Christ will answer for those that knock and will be found by those that seek. PSALM 90 (Selections from the United Presbyterian Psalter, 1912)

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place Through all the ages of our race; Before the mountains had their birth, Or ever Thou hast formed the earth, From everlasting Thou art God, To everlasting our abode.
At Thy command man fades and dies And new born generations rise; A thousand years are passed away, And all to Thee are but a day; Yea, like the watches of the night, With Thee the ages wing their flight.
Man soon yields up his fleeting breath Before the swelling tide of death; Like transient sleep his seasons pass, His life is like the tender grass, Luxuriant 'neath the morning sun, And withered ere the day is done.
Man in Thy anger is consumed, And unto grief and sorrow doomed; Before Thy clear and searching sight Our secret sins are brought to light; Beneath Thy wrath we pine and die, Our life expiring like a sigh.
For threescore years and ten we wait, Or fourscore years if strength be great; But grief and toil attend life's day, And soon our spirits fly away; O who with true and rev'rent thought Can fear Thy anger as he ought?

Discussion Points:
-If you are a Christian, have you used the means of grace sufficiently in the year 2005?
-If you remain without Christ-do you know that your life may expire this coming year? Are you prepared to stand before Christ's judgment seat?
-What are your goals for a more experiential relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in 2006?