WISDOM IN OUR HEARTS (7)

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a HEART of WISDOM” – Psalm 90:12

Obeying God’s instruction to account for our time produces WISDOM in OUR HEARTS: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a HEART of WISDOM” (Psa.90:12). The New Living Translation says, “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Verse 10 says: “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years…”

Psalm 90, considered to be the oldest psalm, opens with Moses addressing God as eternal and Israel's dwelling place: “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, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (vv.1-2). The writer’s thoughts then quickly shift to acknowledge man's brief and frail life on earth – frail like a flower, fleeting like “a watch in the night” or “like a sleep,” transient like grass: “In the morning they are like grass which grows up: In the morning it flourishes and grows up; in the evening it is cut down and withers” (vv.5b-6). Time flies, life is uncertain, and God judges sin. It is important, therefore, to value the moments and days He has given us.

Humanity’s iniquity is the reason God directs His wrath at us, such that in most cases, a person can expect to live somewhere around 70 or 80 years, barring disease or misfortune. Short or long, life is full of toil and trouble (vv.7-10). In view of life's brevity, Moses asked the Lord to fill His people with wisdom (v.12); to have compassion and mercy on His servants that they may be glad and rejoice all their days (vv.13-14); to reveal His work, demonstrate His glory, grant His beauty and favour, and make Israel's labour successful. What powerful prayers these are: “Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, the years in which we have seen evil. Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands” (vv.15-17).

Our meditation scripture vividly illustrates how brief, fleeting, and transient temporal human existence is! The biblical lifespan of 70 to 80 years range sums up between 25,550 and 29,200 days. Some of us are already past the midpoint of each of these numbers. Some other people may never reach these! My calculator (countcalculate.com) shows that as of today I have lived 22,038 days.

Beloved, you also may wish to check how many days you have already lived. As we count our days, we are reminded that they are extremely limited. Life is a temporary assignment! In numbering days, we will realize we have been given only limited time here on this earth. We are not given another year, month, week, or day, simply to take up space. What really will count is how we use the days God gives us. God would have us invest time in His service and for His Glory. Our times are in His hand!

Wisdom raises some vital questions: How will we use the remaining days of our lives? Will we use them in the way the Lord wants us to? Will we allow them to be wasted on inanities and frivolities? Will we use them to serve God and the people He places on our path? Will we use them in the pursuit of purpose or in the rat race for material possessions? Are we willing to use our time, talents, and treasures to build God’s Kingdom wherever He puts us?

We do not know all that tomorrow holds: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Pro. 27:1). So, we ought to dedicate today and every day to the Lord. We must live sensibly and with a purpose, one day at a time. We should seek divine wisdom for the best way to live throughout each day.