A Heart Of Wisdom (Psalm 90:12)

 


Saturday, June 7, 2025


Psalm 90

Deuteronomy 5:1-21

Acts 1:15-26


A Heart Of Wisdom (Psalm 90:12)


So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.


The exhortation to “remember our death” is an ancient one from the monastery. We all have a limited time on this earth, and death comes for us all. While not dwelling on the sadder aspects of death, it seems like it was a healthy piece of common wisdom to keep in mind that our time on this earth does not stretch out forever.


Moses’ prayer in this Psalm that we may be taught to number our days comes halfway through the passage. At the very end, he asks the Lord that he may prosper the work of our hands. Indeed he is so emphatic at this that he repeats himself.


The idea that we will all die one day is not a pessimistic one. Yes, the nihilist might also dwell on the same topic, but he would say that it is a reason to simply give up. But the Christian remembers our inevitable end with a twofold joy.


The first joy is that the reason we have been given this portion of time is so that, with God, we can do something amazing with it. Life, and the time it takes, is a gift. Prosper the work of our hands, Lord! Give us the grace to fill this time you have given us with laughter, and joy, and love, and all the things you want to see fill your creation!


The other joy is that death is not the end. This life is but a flash of light in the world-that-was. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again, and this world will be rolled up like a scroll. Through his death, our own death is but the gateway to everlasting life.


Let us number our days, rejoicing in the gift of each day God has given us, all the while remembering that it is just the prelude to something even more amazing.


Have you ever been stuck in a rut in your life? How might your inevitable end give you a different perspective?


Lord, you are our dwelling place in both this life and the next: teach us so to count our days, that we may receive each one as a gift, and return it to you with the joy and love you have poured into our hearts through your Holy Spirit.

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