I have to tell you a story about Psalm 90. Years ago, when I was an entry level programmer working on my very first large computer system implementation, I got my first introduction to a project timeline. It was definitely not love at first sight. Our tasks were assigned based on the order in which they needed to be accomplished, with all the task interdependencies worked out in excruciating detail. We had to report our time working on every task in fifteen minute increments.
For example, you can’t just go to the grocery store to grab a gallon of milk. Before that, you have to drive to the grocery store. Before you can drive to the grocery store, you have to put gas in the car. Before you can put gas in the car, you have to drive to a gas station. Before you drive to a gas station, you have to find your car keys. And so on, ad nauseum. Now, many of these preliminary tasks that have to be done before you can get the milk are done by different people. Mom finds the car keys and gives them to Susie, who drives to the gas station and pumps the gas, then pulls up outside the grocery store to let Beth go inside and grab the milk. See how it works? If someone doesn’t get their task done in time, then it messes everyone else up and the milk is not purchased.
Being a beginner, I took longer to do things than others. The project manager called me into her office one morning and laid out the project timeline in front of me, and pointed out that I was taking way too long to complete my tasks, and that it was affecting the whole project. OUCH! They tracked statistics by person, and I was the very last on the project team – the least effective worker on the team. I was devastated.
At church that Sunday, two verses were printed in the bulletin:
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. … 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: 14, 17)
When the pastor explained that establish meant “to make successful” I got so excited! I needed God’s joy in my day, and I needed His favor to make my work successful. I clipped out those verses from the bulletin and, the next day, pasted them at the top of my computer monitor where I would seem them constantly, all day long, as I worked. Very, very quickly I began to feel God’s love and His presence. It was as though He worked right alongside me. I even found myself singing as I worked. (Singing for joy!)
A month passed, and the project manager called me back into her office. Once again she had the project timeline laid out on her desk. She looked at me with something like awe, and said, “In all my years in this business, I’ve never seen a turnaround like yours. You’re ahead of schedule. You’ve gone from being last in the efficiency standings to being first!”
Psalm 90 has been one of my favorite psalms since!