There is something very futile about thinking that I work all day at a job only to conclude that it wasn’t worth much. Unfortunately, too many of our days end exhausted and with a big question of “was it worth it?” “Why do I keep doing this?” “I guess I have to keep doing this for the paycheck.” “Is this all there is?”

Moses ends Psalm 90 by saying, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands” (verse 17).

Moses felt just like I do. I want my work to count. The idea in the original language is to give some permanence to our work. Confirm it; establish it; give it some permanence.

‘So, God, please do something so the work I do has some lasting value.’

Moses isn’t talking about evangelizing on the job. He isn’t talking about just having a good job and taking your paycheck so you can provide for your family and give to some worthy causes. He isn’t asking me to save up enough so I can leave my job and go do something else more spiritual or more “important.”

Moses is asking me/us to do our work well as God intended. Rather than trying to mimic what someone else views is a stereotypical Christian businessman, God wants me/you to be in business as a Christian.

God didn’t place Adam in the garden and tell him to fill the earth and subdue it as punishment for Adam’s sin. The difficulty of hard work came later. God gave Adam dominion over the earth and good work to do because this is part of what God made man to do. It is part of what it means to be made in the image of God. God creates. We work within God’s creation. So, work is a good thing.

Nevertheless, Moses longs for God to work through him to cause his work to have a permanence that Moses can’t conjure up on his own. He sort of asks the same thing four times. One, he makes the request. Two, he makes it again. Three, Moses emphasizes that this is “for us”. God is doing this because we can’t do it ourselves. And, four, Moses starts the verse with very important words. “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us…” If our work is going to have a permanence that God intends, then God is going to have to be the mover and establisher. It will be an act of his grace. It will be because God chooses out of his grace to show his favor.

I do all sorts of things. I work with my extended family in real estate. I work hard at being a family man in practical ways. I meet with men to help them pursue spiritual formation in a very intentional fashion. I love to teach. I volunteer my time.

All of these are good things. Not one is more spiritual than another. Yet in each of these things I have a deep longing and need for God to work through me, to establish the work of my hands and to do it with his grace/favor.

There is great joy in seeing the inherent worth of our work and in seeing God instill in it a permanence that only He can accomplish.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 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. We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
— Psalm 90

Howard Morrison is a partner in Arizona’s Morrison Ranch. He resides with his family in Austin, Texas.