Psalm 90:12: “So teach us to number our days, / That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

April 5th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Psalm 90 was written by Moses, and is considered by many to be the oldest psalm. It is interesting that Moses, who didn’t really start serving the Lord until he was 80 years old, reminds us that our lives are short, and that because of that we need to make good use of the time we have. It was the awareness of this brevity that led Moses to pray for a heart of wisdom, “give us wise hearts,” and what a great prayer that was. If we are to truly make our time count, we must have wisdom. Wisdom enables us to correctly use the knowledge we have to make good decisions, keeping not only the immediate moment in mind but eternity as well.

Just how brief is a human life? If we live to be 70 years old, as Moses suggested, that’s only 25,550 days. A survey asked 3000 Americans, “What do you have to live for?” It was very revealing that 94% said they were simply enduring the present while waiting for “something” to happen, what that something was varied greatly. From waiting to have children, to waiting for children to grow up and leave home, to waiting for next year, to waiting for tomorrow, all were waiting for another time, without seeming to remember that all any of us ever has for certain is today. No matter what our age, the sand in the hourglass of life is falling fast.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” Only God creates time, but we sow lasting things with the time given to us, whether for good or bad. We often think of time as something we own, and we have a selfish attitude about it: “What’s mine is mine and you can’t have it.” But when we give our lives to Jesus, He directs us to look at time as “What’s mine is yours, if you need it.” This is the same attitude Jesus taught about greatness when He told his disciples that if they really wanted to be great, they must become servants to all (Matt. 23:11). Do you desire significance for your life?

“LORD, we do want our limited time here on earth to have some lasting significance in the lives of those around us. Please use us this day to sow Your eternal truths in others.”