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 great as the fear that is your due.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom"- Psalm 90:9-12
The book of psalms is 150 chapter split up mostly even between 5 books. This psalm is the opener of the 4th book. The main theme of this sub-book is the idea that God is above us. Compared to the mortality of man, God is and always has been sovereign.
"You turn people back to dust and say to them,' Return to dust, you mortals. A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night"- 90:3-4
In contrast to the span of the life, we are but a flicker in the wind, fleeting as quickly as we come. Despite this fact, God does not want us to waste our life with meaningless and frivolous things. God has laid out a plan and purpose for all of us, whether we are on this earth a decade or 10. The psalmist, Moses, lays out precisely what we need to do to make everyday count. "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Although life is typically counted in years, God wants each of us to live each day as if it were our last. "Give us this day our daily bread"- Matthew 6:11. In other words, Lord, give me the things I need today to do what I need to do today. This is along the same lines as the manna that fell from heaven when the Israelites were in the wilderness. Under God's precise instruction, the people would gather only what they needed for their family the manna that would satisfy them for that day alone. If they tried to store up food for the following day, the manna would be full of bugs and maggots. What Moses is telling the people here is that God's wisdom is the same way. Every morning when we wake up, we need a refreshing of God's wisdom and mercy. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new ever morning; great is your faithfulness"- Lamentations 3:22-23
Trying to gain more wisdom than needed for the day is like studying for a test and trying to cram all the knowledge from all the chapters, from all of your different classes. Besides that being completely overwhelming, it won't do any good to study your math book when you need to test on Biology. Instead, focus your attention on one subject at a time and when you need to learn the other things, you won't be bogged down with less important information. God wants to fill us with his wisdom, but he also wants us to refill every day. The wisdom he imparts to us is given to handle the day you are in, rather than the day your going into. Ask God with the opening of each new day to give you the wisdom for whatever life will throw your direction. He is a loving, giving God who wants his children to be well equipped to handle any attack or roadblock you may face. Don't let a day go by without filling your heart with the wisdom of God, and watch God use that knowledge in you to do incredible things. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours"- Mark 11:24
Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Mission Through the Psalms
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