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“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalms 90:12 NIV
This is the third time we’ve chanced upon a psalm from chapter 90 of the Book of Psalms. Remember, if you love the wisdom of Psalms as much as I do, you can scan through well over a hundred devotionals that examine the treasures of this book:
Chapter 90 of Psalms is a bit different from many of the other psalms in that it wasn’t written by David or any of his musicians. It’s a prayer attributed to Moses focusing on how best to spend our short allotment of human life.
We can start by having fear (reverence) of God, knowing both how infinitely holy He is and how He responds to sin. We are not to be in terror of God, but recognize our place as sinners before Him. God is infinitely pure; humanity is fallen.
When we recognize this fact, we begin to grow in wisdom as our hearts are aligned with His guidance and we learn to avoid the perils of pride and self-sufficiency. Humbly submitting to His instruction goes a long way toward cultivating wisdom.
Moses was asking God for the wisdom to understand the shortness of mortal life, asking Him to make us cognizant of our finite lifetimes and understand how critical it is to repent while we have the chance.
A few wonderful thoughts to ponder from Enduring Word:
a. So teach us to number our days: When Moses considered the frail nature of humanity and the righteous judgment of God, it made him ask God for the wisdom to understand the shortness of life.
i. “To number our days; to consider the shortness and miseries of this life, and the certainty and speediness of death, and the causes and consequences thereof.” (Poole)
ii. “Of all arithmetical rules this is the hardest – to number our days. Men can number their herds and droves of oxen and of sheep, they can estimate the revenues of their manors and farms, they can with a little pains number and tell their coins, and yet they are persuaded that their days are infinite and innumerable and therefore do never begin to number them.” (Tymme, cited in Spurgeon)
iii. “To live with dying thoughts is the way to die with living comforts.” (Trapp)
Moses realized that this isn’t wisdom that automatically comes to us. Looking back at life from 69 years of age, I remember when I was a teen and thought I’d live forever. I never gave much of a thought to death or what came after… Then came personal experiences with death; relatives, friends, casual acquaintances at school and work. Yet it was still hard to realize that eventually this would happen to me.
David Guzik of Enduring Word ponders the second part of this psalm:
b. That we may gain a heart of wisdom: Learning to number our days will give us a heart of wisdom. This is wisdom not only for the mind, but for the heart as well.
i. “Let us deeply consider our own frailty, and the shortness and uncertainty of life, that we may live for eternity, acquaint ourselves with thee, and be at peace; that we may die in thy favour and live and reign with thee eternally.” (Clarke)
To “gain a heart of wisdom”, we must intentionally seek God’s insights through study of His Word and prayerful consideration of what we read in the Bible. That wisdom gives us a glimpse beyond our mortality and toward an eternity of fellowship with the Lord. Living in anticipation of our eternity depends on us to conduct our mortal time and purpose with wisdom.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, I thank You for the gift of each new day. Help me to recognize how valuable each moment is and to live my mortal life with purpose. As Moses prayed, teach me to number my days wisely, so I may gain a heart of wisdom. Guide my decisions, and direct my priorities towards those things that truly matter in Your kingdom. AMEN.