Numbering Our Days

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” ~ Psalm 90:12

Having had two dear friends die in the past couple weeks and a third receive the news he was to “get his house in order” has made me think about the brevity of life lately. After all, one of these men was 45 years old and the other 50 years old and my age is squarely in the middle of theirs. The verse that has been on my mind is Psalm 90:12, written above.
As you may know Psalm 90 expresses both the eternality of God (90:2) and the mortality of man (5-6). When referring to the span of a person’s life in verse 10 Moses writes “they quickly pass, and we fly away.” The longer I live the more I agree with that!
Therefore, verse 12 is so crucial to mediate on and live by. I will share my meditations on it here. First, we are instructed by the Lord to number our days. We are each allotted a given number of days on the earth. Some get more and some less. Some are past already and some are ahead. God alone knows the number of days before and behind us. Ironically, though we cannot know their number Psalm 90:12 tells us to number them aright. How can we? Sure, we cannot. But the Lord is telling us to not overestimate how many there are. Do not live as if we will be on earth forever. Recognize our days are ticking away and then we will be accountable to Him. What is the first phrase saying about our days then? It does not mean to count them out, but to make them count.
Why are we to number our days aright according to Psalm 90:12? The last half of the verse says so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. A heart of wisdom? I realize most in American culture think of the heart figuratively as the seat of emotions, yet in Hebraic thought the heart meant much more. The heart was seen as the center of a person. Given that reality this divinely-given text is calling us to have wisdom in our inner being. So here is what that means to me.

· Wisdom should guide my affections, attitudes and decisions. Wisdom should guide my feelings, my thinking my acting. There is no time to waste on ungodly loves, unhealthy feelings, or unholy attitudes.
· Wisdom in my heart would also affect the priorities, values, and goals of my life.
· Wisdom should dictate my use of resources and the relationships I pursue. If I have numbered days how foolish it is to let my relationships be fractured by unforgiveness or unspoken love. In such situations wisdom would urge immediate and continual reconciliation with all. I should freely and intently love others in God-pleasing ways. I should treasure my daily experiences with family and friends.
· Wisdom in my heart would also drive me to a closer relationship to God. If I recognize that very soon I will be with the Lord I should seek to cultivate a relationship with him. Wisdom, as written of in the Old Testament, always began with a reverence of God (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10; 11:2). So my relationship with him must begin there as I recognize that the Lord will soon be my judge (Hebrews 9:27). Yet it should also lead to an intimacy since after judgment as a true believer in Jesus I will share joyous eternity with Him.
· Wisdom means I use all the days I have left well before God and others. This means living within God’s will and boldly giving witness to him before a world full of temporal people just like me. Each day I must live with an active awareness of God being with me and directing me to use my moments as He intends. Numbering my days aright means there is no time to squander on trivialities. A heart of wisdom would tell me all activities must be filtered by the reality that my time on earth is running out day by day.

These have been challenging thoughts for me. I have been re-evaluating these various areas of my life this week. I hope as you personally meditate on Psalm 90:12 God will guide you also toward a wiser heart. For Psalm 90 is plain: Life is brief. Eternity is forever. So we must wisely choose how we will live each day before the Lord eternal.

Seeking a wise heart!
Pastor Scott