Teach Us To Number Our Days

August 12

Job 1-3

Psalm 90:7-12

Proverbs 20:10-11

2 Corinthians 1:15-2:17

Teach Us To Number Our Days

“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.  If only we knew the power of your anger!  Your wrath as great as the fear that is your due.  Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  Psalm 90:10-12 NIV

The older I get the more I understand today’s passage.  I just celebrated my 60^th birthday and as I look back over my lifetime I recognize that my perspective has changed.  The memories I have are so very precious to me as I recall my days as a child, a teenager, a college student, a newlywed, a young mom, a mom of teenage girls and now of adult children.  Each season has been such a blessing and at the same time, each season has had very difficult times.  I wouldn’t trade any of them.  The trouble and sorrows taught me things that the blessings couldn’t.  Those hard times increased my faith and taught me not to rely on my own strength.  Faith is a muscle and if it isn’t  used, it can’t develop.  You cannot know how much faith you have till you have to use it.  I have always heard older people say that life is so short, and I thought I understood, but the older I get, the clearer that truth becomes.  Our life here on earth is fleeting.  It only lasts a few short years and then “we fly away.”  But that isn’t the end, it is just the beginning!  We have an eternity to spend with our Savior! 

It seems odd that the next verse is speaking about God’s anger.  It certainly isn’t a popular sermon topic these days.  We prefer to talk about God’s love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, patience, etc.  All of those things are true, but they aren’t the full picture.  God is also just and He cannot tolerate sin.  We cannot fully comprehend how God can hate sin and demand justice and at the same time loves us so much that He treats us with mercy and grace.  The only way to reconcile those two things is a recognition and acceptance of His perfect plan of redemption.  Sin has to be punished and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23).  God sent His only Son to take the punishment for us.  All we have to do is believe and accept His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness.  Those who choose to believe are spared the consequences of His wrath, but those who refuse to believe have to experience His wrath toward sin and evil.  The choice is ours.  Understanding God’s wrath helps us to “number our days,” so that we desire to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him and have an urgency to share His love with others.  The days, weeks, months, and years pass like a vapor.  If we are not intentional, we can easily look back and realize we have not invested spiritually in the lives of those around us.  No matter how old you are, it is good to periodically examine your life and evaluate if you are numbering your days so that you can gain a heart of wisdom.