“So Teach Us to Number Our Days”

Psalm 90:12-17

INTRODUCTION

Not long ago I was listening to the radio to an interview of a woman who was over 100 years old. She had done something remarkable—I don’t remember what it was—but whatever she had done had made her an interesting lady for an interview.

The only thing I remember now about the interview was her answer when the interviewer asked her if she ever thought about death. Her answer: “No, I don’t think about that—because there’s nothing I can do about it.”

I don’t want to be unfair to the lady because I’m not sure what she meant.

But taking her words as they stand, there is something we can do about death—and that’s what we are going to talk about today.

I remember a time about 30 years ago a conversation with a much younger man. He told me that he didn’t care to live past 50. His opinion was that when he got that old, life wouldn’t be worth living.

Well, he’s past 50 now. I wonder whether he’s willing to call it quits on life. I suspect that in 30 years, he’s gained more wisdom.

Young people have no concept of the shortness of life. To them, the 60 or 70 years they expect to live seems like endless time.

But we know that life isn’t endless.

We look back and it seems like yesterday when we were kids…when we got our first job…when were married…when the first child came along…

In Psalm 90 we read this prayer—the prayer of an old man: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

I. The psalmist instructs us “number our days”?

A. To “number your days” means “Remember, your time is short; you’re not going to live forever.”

This verse is not meant to be depressing. It’s meant to be encouraging.

It is telling us that we are to accept each day as a gift from God.

When we realize how short life is, we can understand what a gift life is.

When we view our life from the end, we become serious about what we are doing with the time God has given us.

B. But we know something the psalmist didn’t know. When he says, “Teach us to number my days,” he means: “Teach me how short my time is, so that I may live wisely—making each day count.

For you and me, the meaning is broader. We have his understanding of the end of life on earth. But we also know more about what comes after.

We live in hope, knowing that each day brings us closer to Glory.

We know that each day brings us ever closer to the time when we go through that door to the Father’s House.

B. When we consider our days—especially how fast they go by—we gain a heart of wisdom.

“Heart,” in the Bible stands for the deepest part of our being—our understanding, our loving, and our desiring.

If we have wise hearts, we understand the purposes of God, and we live in accordance to those purposes

I remember long ago when I was a child listening to a preacher who kept saying,

“Life is short—but eternity is long.”… “Life is short—but eternity is long.” I don’t remember anything else from his sermon. But I remember that—because it is true.

When I was a child someone gave me a little plaque that I hung over my bed.

On it was a picture a garden path with flowers around it.

And on it were these lines:

“Only one life ‘twill soon be past.

Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Those were wise words for a child to consider.

II. Let us continue with the psalm:

A. Verses 13-14:

“Return, O Lord! How long?

Have pity on thy servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love,

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

The psalmist is telling us go to bed each night asking God to satisfy us in the coming day with his faithful love.

The psalmist isn’t thinking of health or what the world calls “prosperity,” but of the grace of God.

And it is possible to experience the grace of God even in the midst of trouble.

B. Now skipping to verse 17:

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish thou the work of our hands upon us,

yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”

Other translations translate this verse: “Let the sweetness of the Lord our God be upon us…” Or “Let the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us…”

Or “Let the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us…”

Or “Let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us…”

But I like best the way this verse is translated in the King James Bible: “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us…”

The psalmists speak of “the beauty of holiness.”

The beauty the psalmist yearns for is that beauty that comes from the grace of God.

In the character of the faithful believer, the beauty of Jesus is reflected—the beauty of a life lived for God…a life of kindness and sympathy, of generosity and helpfulness…of respect and courtesy, of humility and gratitude.

In Romans 12 we are told to “outdo one another in showing honor…”

Let people know you are glad to see them! To give attention to people is to honor them.

And the psalm ends with these words:

“ …and establish thou the work of our hands upon us,

yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”

“The work of our hands” means our life’s work.

All that we have attempted for God—every generous action, every sacrifice for love—affects eternity.

Life, from earth’s point of view, appears frothy, effervescent, like water over the dam.

But seen from the perspective of eternity, the good done on earth lasts forever.

A great saint said this: “Our deeds do not pass away as they seem to. On the contrary, every deed done in this life is the seed of a harvest to be reaped in eternity” (St. Bernard of Clairvaux).

A great Bible expositor wrote this: “The smallest work done for Jesus lasts forever, whether it abide in men’s memories or no” (Alexander MacLaren).

Every good thing in your life came from someone else—a parent, a teacher, a friend, the author of a book—someone who taught you or modeled for you what it means to be faithful or encouraged you by his or her godly example.

And in the same way, the goodness in your life goes on—into the lives of others—for all eternity.

That’s what it means for God to “establish the work of your hands.”

CONCLUSION

A pastor in San Antonio named Buckner tells this story about what happened when Hurricane Beulah came and devastated that whole Texas area.

In this strongly Catholic town hundreds of people found refuge in his Baptist church.

The church members cooked meals for them. They allowed them to sleep in the pews; they provided recreation for them and even worship services.

At the end of the time, Baptist pastor recalls how the Catholic bishop came to him and said, “I want to thank you and your people for what they have done for our people. I know it doesn’t mean a lot to you to hear me say that because I am just a man. But one of these days you are going to stand before the Lord himself. He will look at you with those beautiful eyes of his and say, ‘Buckner, when you took in those refugees, that was a wonderful thing to do, and I want to thank you for it.’ That will mean something to you then.’”

When everyone on earth has forgotten you and I ever existed, the good we have done will continue on to bless others—both on earth and in heaven.