Teach Us To Number Our Days

We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. 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 is as great as the fear that is your due. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:7-17

In times of crisis, our sense of what is truly important often comes into clearer focus. In light of the brevity of our lives, and the realization of God’s righteous anger, Moses made a plea to God for understanding. Moses asked that we be taught to number our days and recognize how few they are. And with those days as few as they are, we should ask for help in spending them as we should.

Our numbered days and the brevity of life call us to embrace God’s eternal love and, like Moses, to focus on the most important things.

Our numbered days point us to God’s eternal love.

Our Daily Bread – February 11, 2013