Each New Year’s Day, as does each birthday, brings with it the unsettling reminder that another year is gone. I would guess that everyone (after a certain age, anyway) thinks about that at least a little bit. We get only so many years here, and these annual reminders seem to come around faster every year.
Therefore, New Year’s Day, just as much as Christmas Day, should be a time to think about Jesus, who said, “I am the resurrection and the life; whosoever believes in me, will live again.” Believing that changes one’s whole perspective on the passage of years. No one else can do anything about the way the years keep getting away on us, but Jesus can give us years without end.
PSALM
The Psalmist was probably thinking about the swift passage of his years when he wrote Psalm 90. Here are several verses from that Psalm.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered…
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away…
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom…
HYMN
A young teenager once complained to his father, a minister, that most of the hymns they were singing in church were boring to him because they were too far behind the times. His father put an end to his son’s complaints by saying, “If you think you can write better hymns, then let’s see you try.” The boy was a brilliant student and enjoyed challenges, so he decided he would attempt it. Looking through his Bible for ideas, he read Revelations 5:9 which said, “And they sang a new song.” That settled it for him. He would try writing some new songs, starting with one based on that verse. The fifteen-year-old wrote out some words, found a melody to go with it, and his father introduced it to the congregation the very next Sunday. The people liked it so much they asked for another one the following Sunday, and then the Sunday after that, and so on. For 222 consecutive weeks that teen-age boy wrote a new hymn for Sunday worship!
The hymn-writing began in the year 1689, and that teenager was Isaac Watts (1674-1748). He continued to write hymns throughout his life. He wrote over 750 hymns, many of which by now have become old and stale, just like the music the young Isaac objected to. Tastes do change over the years. But many of Watts’ hymns remain popular and are still used today, such as Jesus Shall Reign, O God Our Help in Ages Past, and Joy to the World.
When he was in his thirties, Watts was working on putting all 150 Psalms to music. The lyrics would not be precise translations, but paraphrases of the theme of each particular Psalm. In 1708, he wrote O God Our Help in Ages Past based on the Psalm 90 (above). This has become one of his most popular hymns, as he compares our brief and fragile lives, to the eternal greatness of God; God, who has been our help in the past and is our only hope for the future.
Watch the video below to hear “O God Our Help in Ages Past.” Words are included.
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PRAYER
British scholar Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) often wrote prayers for the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year. The prayer below contains passages from several of these prayers. This powerful prayer is a good way to remember Jesus as the days of our life pass by so quickly.
Almighty God, by whose mercy I am permitted to behold the beginning of another year, and by whose forbearance I have not yet fallen into the grave, bless me with thy help and favor. Grant that I may remember my past life, and repent of the times I have spent in forgetfulness of thy mercy and in neglect of my own salvation. I give you thanks that you have so far been patient and have not snatched me away in the midst of sin and folly, but permit me still to enjoy the means of grace and the time to repent. Grant, O Lord, that your patience may not be in vain, and that the days of my life may not be continued to the increase of my guilt, and that your grace may not harden my heart in wickedness. O Lord, as I remember my past life, may I recollect the many ways you have sustained and preserved me. In affliction may I remember how often in the past I have been assisted, and in prosperity may I remember from whose hand the blessing is received. Let not the cares of the world distract me, nor the evils of this age overwhelm me. Enable me to use all enjoyments with due temperance, and run with diligence the race that is set before me. Calm my thoughts, direct my desires, and fortify my purposes. Let me remember, O my God, that as the days and years pass over me I approach nearer to the grave, where there is no opportunity for repentance. I pray that I may so pass through this life, that I may obtain life everlasting. In the course of my life protect me, and in the hour of my death sustain me; so that I may lie down in humble hope and die in the confidence of your mercy. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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