By Mark Horne
47 Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man! 48 What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? ~ Psalm 89:47-48
Today is a somber day in American history. It is a day that ranks as high on the list as June 6, 1944 when Operation Overlord went into effect and American troops stormed the beaches of Normandy with a high cost of American lives in World War II. For many of us, we can tell others the exact place and time on September 11, 2001 when the first plane crashed into the first Twin Tower and then all the aftermath that unfolded. However, unlike a war that was fought on foreign soil across the ocean many decades ago in which we didn’t see and experience ourselves, this attack on America manifested right before our very eyes on television and computer screens across the world. With it brought a flood of emotions to our senses such as desperation, confusion, heartbreak, despair, sorrow and eventually hate, and anger.
Today, eighteen years later, some of the children of the men and women who lost their lives that day are either beginning, or in the midst of, college and adulthood. Spouses, parents, brothers, sisters, children and friends have lived almost two decades without their loved ones. Many of them still visit the graves and monuments erected for memorials of that dreaded day. The pain continues to reside in their hearts.
Our nation continues to struggle with the tragedies of 9-11. Then, we came together in a spirit of prayer and comfort for each other. We rallied behind one another, putting aside differences of race, religion and rank. We united around slogans of “our spirit will never break” and “we will never forget.” Now, our news and social media outlets are filled with memes and commentaries of 9-11 still trying to make sense of that day. Still trying to heal wounds that may never be fully gone. At the very least, there are only scars, memorials, and empty lots of where the World Trade Center was to remind us.
It is good to remember. Scripture has a theme of remembrance throughout. In passages like Genesis 9:16, Deuteronomy 8:18, and 1 Chronicles 16:12 we are instructed that rainbows and erected stones are given to remember God. And then in other passages in the Psalms and Hebrews 8:12 we are taught how God remembers His children and His covenant with them.
In the above passage found in Psalm 89, which is a Psalm that mostly testifies of God’s steadfast love of the LORD for His children, we get this little insight into the Psalmist’s heart. Almost at the end of his song, verse 38 takes a turn and asks God why He has turned from His people and brought wrath upon them. It seems that after many years into the Exile he still experiences anger, hurt, confusion. Today, I am sure many of us can identify with the Psalmist.
Of the two things he asks God to remember in the Psalm (verses 47 and 50), the first emphatically states to remember how short my time is! I don’t think this is a spontaneous exclamation. Betwixt the pain he still feels and the aftermath that continues to surround him, he is cognizant of the shortness of life. It is here one moment and gone the next. It is like a vapor James 4:14 tells us. One of my favorite quotes is from Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl who said, “If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”
Yes. There is a sense that we do need to remember 9-11 for many reasons. We need to remember the victims, heroes, families, a hurting nation, and even who brought the act of terror upon our great country. However, there is a sense we need to remember, as Dahl and the Psalmist stated, life is short. And from that, we need to consider how our lives stand in relation to God. Paul brought this point to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 2:12, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Those great men and women who woke up on September 11, 2001 most likely never thought their lives would end the way it did that day; in a plane crash, in a burning and falling building, jumping out of a window, in an office at the Pentagon, or in a part-strewn field. Many of them probably thought they had years of living ahead of them. It didn’t happen, but they did give us an eternal lesson that day. This earthly life is short, and we must be ready to face God when it ends. Heaven, or hell awaits each one of us. If one is separated from Christ, who doesn’t know Him as Lord and Savior, his or her eternal destiny is hell. However, if one places his or her trust in Him, believes that He is the Son of God who came to this earth, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, lived a perfectly holy life, voluntarily died on a cross taking our sins upon Him, and buried, raised again and now sits at the right hand of the Father; then heaven is open. Have you turned from your sinful ways and now live for your Savior? Is your relationship with Him sure? Do you have this hope?
Andrews PCA 