Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Psalm 90), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [1-2] “The eternal God is your dwelling place” (Deuteronomy 33:27). What do you think it means that God is the “dwelling place” of his people? When you think of Eternity, do you think of difficult, abstract concepts regarding time or timelessness, or do you think of the personal God who is himself your home? Which thought is more interesting to you?

• [3, 5, 7-9, 11] Read Genesis 3:17-19; 6:3. The reason why the human lifespan has a limit, a death sentence, is the judgment (“anger,” “wrath”) of God toward human rebellion. Do you think about mortality—whether your own or others’—in those terms? Do you agree with God’s judgment? Are you scandalized, saddened, or frightened by every death? How would you describe your response to mortality in light of God’s judgment (curse) upon our sin?

• [4-6, 10, 12] C. S. Lewis talks about our not being reconciled to time as the reason why the passing of time always surprises us. Every life ends in an untimely death. Paul Tripp talks about needing to be restored to Eternity. How might the free gift of eternal life in Christ (Romans 6:23) reconcile us to time, and help us with the problem of the surprising brevity of our time on earth? If you’re assured of Eternity with God in the New Heaven and New Earth, how does it help you cope with the transience, the fleeting nature of life in this world?

• [12-13] This isn’t the prayer of someone who is only terrified of God’s judgment, who wants to flee God’s righteous anger, but of someone who also knows God to be merciful, who desires God to draw near and have pity. Knowing God this way is what equips us to face the hard reality of our mortality. Are you able to think about your own death because you have found comfort in God’s pity? Have you asked God to help you reflect on your own death in light of his mercy in Christ?

• [14-17] God establishes your life and works, and lends them eternal properties, as you come into a relationship with him through faith in his Son, as you ask him for life that never ends, life with divine significance. How has God lent your life and your endeavors eternal properties? How do you imagine he will do so after your Resurrection?