Establish the work of our hands
Psalms 90:17 - True contentment and purpose in work come when our efforts are aligned with God’s will
“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.”
Psalms 90:17 NIV
Another day, another psalm! As I was beginning my last devotional on Psalms 108:4-5, I thought out loud that it would be fun if I could collect all of the Heaven On Wheels devotionals that refer to different psalms. Well, I was able to figure out how to collect all psalms onto one page. If you’re in the mood to read our collection of studies on the Psalms, you can choose to do so from the website by selecting the “Psalms” link:
Sadly, they’re only in order by reverse publication date (newer posts first…) and not listed in the same order they are published in the Bible… As we dissect more psalms, they will be automatically added to that page.
But enough of that - let’s take a look at today’s psalm.
Psalm 90 was not written by David. It’s actually attributed to a much earlier author, Moses. This verse begins with the psalmist pleading to God for His favor and blessing, showing a deep-seated expectation of God’s grace. The Aaronic blessing, which is found in Numbers 6:24-26, specifically requests God’s favor by asking for His face to shine upon His people:
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26 NIV
Why is Moses asking for God’s favor to rest upon His people? It suggests an everlasting presence of God, somewhat like the pillars of cloud and fire that guided the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. God’s favor is His gift of grace to His people. It’s nothing that the people of Israel were necessarily worthy of, but His grace showed His favor towards humankind.
By pleading to God to “establish the work of our hands for us”, Moses shows a yearning for stability and success in all that the people of Israel try to do. In the time of Moses, life was labor-intensive and uncertain (primarily because of drought and pestilence) and it was crucial to seek God’s blessing.
Even today, human efforts are fundamentally futile without God’s blessing. Proverbs 16:3 reminds us to “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” From a theological viewpoint, this recognizes that God is sovereign over all human undertakings, and His intervention is necessary to bring perpetual value to the work of our hands and minds.
Without His intervention, all of our works are (in the words of Ecclesiastes 1:2) “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” So why does Moses repeat the words “establish the work of our hands”? This is a common literary device in the Psalms called “Hebrew parallelism”, which is used to reinforce a message.
True contentment and purpose in work come when our efforts are aligned with God’s will. In the New Testament, we are reminded “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23). As Christians, we should always be a “type of Christ”, as He perfectly fulfilled the work (redeeming humanity) that He was given by the Father. We humans can at least do our tasks without complaint and to the best of our ability!
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, let Your favor rest upon us. As Moses asked, please establish the work of our hands so that all we do reflects Your glory and brings honor to Your name. Direct our efforts and strengthen our hearts and minds, so that others may see Your presence in our daily labors. AMEN.