So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12
At the beginning of a new year, the inclination is to think positively about the things you will accomplish and the goals you will reach in the year ahead. However, the writer of today’s verse would have you review the previous year. The only Psalm written by Moses, Psalm 90 reflects upon how God had cared for His people for generations, and how they were not always faithful.
Moses had seen it all. Raised in an Egyptian ruler’s household, he had experienced wealth and its benefits for forty years. He then lived as a shepherd, a simple life, for another forty years. His final forty years were spent wandering in a wilderness with a complaining, whiny group of people, and all who were over the age of twenty when they left Egypt died as they wandered, except Caleb and Joshua (Numbers 32:11-12). Probably no one was more aware of the goodness of God, the sinfulness of people, and the brevity of life than Moses. The patriarchs had lived for hundreds of years, but now seventy or eighty was the average lifespan.
Moses wrote that the years fly by so quickly, with the human mind focused on the moment, so his plea was emphatic: “Teach us to number our days.” Why would that be important? Because God has not given you breath to live life in vain. He wants you to “get a heart of wisdom,” live joyfully in faithfulness to Him, and be blessed in your endeavors (Psalm 90:12-16).
Pray today that you and the people of this nation focus on God’s way, and take up the prayer of Moses, turning from sin and following the Lord each day, so He will “establish the work of our hands!”
Today’s Verse: Psalm 90:12
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Psalm 90:8-17
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 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.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
