December 31, 2023 • Life for Leaders
Scripture — Psalm 90:1-4 (NRSV)
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn us back to dust
and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past
or like a watch in the night.
Focus
On the first day of 2024, we don’t know what lies ahead in this year. Sure, we have our expectations and hopes. But we also feel the uncertainties in our lives and in the world around us. We could easily become afraid. But if God is our refuge and strength, and if God is our very present help in trouble, then we will not fear no matter what happens. God is still God today. God is still our Wisdom, our Guide, our Healer, our Protector, our King, and our Savior.
Devotion
Happy New Year!
Today billions of people throughout the world will celebrate the turning of the calendar to 2024. Many celebrations began yesterday evening, culminating with exuberant cheers as the clock hit midnight. Some of us sang “Auld Lang Syne” even if we’re not at all sure what it actually means. Our celebrations of the new year will continue today, with parade viewing, football watching, and friendly gatherings. And if you stayed up late last night, you may celebrate today by taking a nap. I know I will!
Though we might enjoy celebrating the dawn of a new year, the fact is that most things haven’t changed in our lives. Yes, we’re now in 2024, and we might be trying to implement our New Year’s resolutions (good luck with that!), but for the most part, the world around us and we ourselves haven’t changed, other than being a day older.
Psalm 90 reminds us that God hasn’t changed either. The psalm begins by affirming that God has been “our dwelling place in all generations” (90:1). Throughout the ages we have found our true home in God, and this is still true today.
God isn’t bound by time. As Psalm 90 affirms, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (90:2). Or as the CEB put it, “from forever in the past to forever in the future, you are God.” So, whether it’s 2023 or 2024, or any other year for that matter, God is still the one, true, trustworthy, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-gracious, all-loving God.
Because God is not bound by time, God’s perspective on time is quite different from ours. So the psalm writer prays, “For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.” I’d imagine, therefore, that God isn’t overly impressed when the year moves a year forward on our calendars.
What strikes me as most important and wonderful in the first verses of Psalm 90 is the reassurance we receive from the fact that God is still God no matter the year, no matter what happens in our lives. As it says in Psalm 46, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult” (46:1-3).
We don’t know what lies ahead in 2024. Sure, we have our expectations and hopes. But we also feel the uncertainties in our lives and in the world around us. We could easily become afraid. But if God is our refuge and strength, and if God is our very present help in trouble, then we will not fear no matter what happens. We can count on God to be God. God is still our Wisdom, our Guide, our Healer, our Protector, our King, and our Savior. Thus we can have confidence in God and peace in our hearts and lives. As it says in Isaiah, “Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—in peace because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD you have an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:3-4).
As we begin a new year, it’s good to remember that God is still God today, tomorrow, in all the days of 2024, and forever.
So, on that reassuring note, I greet you once again with Happy New Year!
Reflect
What are your thoughts and feelings about beginning a new year?
What are you facing in the new year concerning which you feel a particular need for God’s presence in your life?
What helps you to trust in the Lord no matter what happens in life?
Act
Set aside some time in the next couple of days to think and pray about the year ahead, asking for God’s wisdom, guidance, and grace.
Pray
Gracious God, hear us as we pray in the words of Psalm 90:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn us back to dust
and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past
or like a watch in the night.
As we begin this new year, may we make our home in you. May we trust you even more with every part of life. Amen.
Banner image by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Working in a Fallen World (Psalms 90, 101).
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Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders, and the founder of the De Pree Center’s Flourishing in the Third Third of Life Initiative. Previously, Mark was the Executive Director of the De Pree Center, the lead pastor of a church in Southern California, and the Senior Director of Laity Lodge in Texas. He has written eight books, dozens of articles, and over 2,500 devotions that help people discover the difference God makes in their daily life and leadership. With a Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard, Mark teaches at Fuller Seminary, most recently in his D.Min. cohort on “Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation.” Mark is married to Linda, a marriage and family counselor, spiritual director, and executive coach. Their two grown children are educators on the high school and college level.
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