Creator, Father, King #96

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

MOSES WAS MANY THINGS.

He was a godly leader, a powerful prophet, a wise judge, and a Spirit-inspired biblical author. He was also a tablet expert: thousands of years before electronic tablets with Internet capability, he was receiving new Ten Commandment tablets after angrily throwing the first set down a mountain!

But did you know he was also a poet? It’s true! While King David wrote at least half of the book of Psalms, Moses wrote one—Psalm 90, making it the oldest of the 150 psalms.

Moses likely penned Psalm 90 during Israel’s wilderness wanderings. It’s a beautiful song that juxtaposes the brevity of human life against God’s awe-inspiring eternality and sovereign purposes.

Moses experienced many highs and lows in life. He had much wisdom to dispense. Mostly, he wanted the readers of Psalm 90 to understand how awesome God is and how—as mere mortals but also privileged image-bearers of the King—they fit into the grand scope of this big, fallen world.

“Teach us,” he wrote in today’s verse, “to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

What’s It Mean?

God is eternal—without beginning or end. But human life is short—about seventy years or so, maybe eighty if we’re really blessed (verse 10). Much of it, though, is filled with “pain and trouble” (verse 10). As such, Moses says, we would be wise to “number our days.”

Was Moses the world’s biggest pessimist? Was he taking a morbid, fatalistic view of life, like counting down the days until you die?

No. When Moses says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom,” he is asking God to help us make the most of the beautiful, albeit relatively brief, gift of human life on earth. How do we get a heart of wisdom? That begins with fearing the Lord (Proverbs 9:10; see the April 22 devotion), seeking him through his Word, and walking in his ways.

Life is hard. Time zips by relentlessly. Are you numbering your days for the Lord? Are you seeking a heart of wisdom? Are you pursuing God wholeheartedly?

You should—because his love for you is never-ending. As Moses sang in verse 14, “Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.”

Now What?

Read Psalm 90.

Did You Know?

Moses lived to be 120 years old (Deuteronomy 34:7), beating the average life span he wrote about in his own psalm! (But hey, who’s counting?)