Several family members and friends had birthdays this week, and we’re almost through the first month of the new year, so it’s a good time to consider how we “number our days.” Psalm 90 teaches about the passing of time. Additionally, I’m beginning a study of the book of Revelation. I did not know, and now do–see, I’m still learning new things–that the word Revelation means Apocalypses in Greek, and that when things of God are revealed in a special way, we are able to better understand God’s purpose for the world, the whole realm of salvation, and our personal walk in the times present and times to come.
It helps me to think eternally. So, when the Psalmist tells us to number our days, it is in this eternal context. Here’s the passage I’m “revealing” today:
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor[of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
(biblegateway.com. ESV.1/20/23 9:47a.m.)
My nine-year-old granddaughter shared a poster with me the other night when I had the joy of babysitting. She has this all in perspective. The poster says something like this: “I make my plans. God laughs.” When I “googled it, I discovered it’s an old Yiddish saying: “We plan; God laughs” and there’s even a book with that title. So, how does that fit with numbering our days?
“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Prov. 27:1). The New Testament teaching of Jesus also asks “Who among you can add an hour to his life? And Jesus says we cannot add an hour to our life, so why worry about what is to come.
Tomorrow is not guaranteed to us, so today, let us gain that piece of knowledge and redeem the time, doing what is significant, learning what we can, and trusting God to provide. He knows what our tomorrows will be like. He knew, according to Psalm 139 the day we would die before we even were born. God is in charge; we are not. Therefore, trust the God who keeps the ocean in its place, he determines the governments and their reigns, he controls every synapse and cell in our bodies, he knows our needs and provides, and He gives strength and discernment for the challenges we’ll face. Therefore, let us number our days, walk in the freedom of knowing He’s in charge of our hours, days, years, and eternity, and let Him establish the work of our hands. He promised.
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