So teach us to number our days

...... that we may get a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). They say time goes faster when you get older, I will have to verify this when I get there :) . Verse 10 tells us “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” Another scripture puts it this way “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Verse 11 of the Psalm reads “Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath matches the fear You are due.” The sense of the first part of the title then is that we need to ask God to number our days because no one considers, and because of His wrath and because “God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

The excuses that are too easy to use for not living for the Lord as we go through life in youth, too young, in middle age too busy, in old age too old or too tired. And to number our days is to consider life's brevity and what we are doing with our lives. And when we consider, think about, meditate on the fact that that we must give an account to a just and righteous God, wisdom will surely follow. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Stephen Covey suggests we think about what will be said about us at our funeral. Perhaps more important is what God will say about us at that time. What I want to hear is “Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:23).

The Psalm continues with “Relent O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us” (verses 13-15). And I am reminded that Jesus came that we might have life in all its fullness. But also when we do not live for Him, inevitably the thief will wreak havoc and destruction, and loss in our lives (John 10:10). So which is wiser, to live for me (which in any case is to have been taken captive to do the Evil one's will - 2 Timothy 2:26), or to live for Him and so to be able, with His help and enduring presence, to rise above the toil and trouble? It's should not be rocket science!

Father, teach us indeed to number our days so that we may have, not just wisdom, but a heart of wisdom. Lord You are full of Grace and Mercy, but You are also for justice and truth. Help us to hold these truths in balance Lord. And Father “Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands” (verses 16, 17). And we will give You the Glory in Jesus Name Amen