“Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12
The psalmist realizes that life is short, his people’s situation is dismal, therefore the everlasting God should do something about it because there is not much time left. But in spite of my rather flippant summary, this psalm has deservedly inspired wonderful hymns like “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” It also contains a perceptive and challenging prayer which for me is the core of the whole psalm: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
There is the kind of numbering of days that we do when we are experiencing something good that we don’t want to end: I have ten wonderful days at the beach; I have five more days at the beach; this is my last day of walking in the surf. You know what I mean. Then there is the kind of numbering of days when we are anticipating a coming event (good or bad); two days until I get the pathology report; five weeks until the baby is due. But there is a still different kind of numbering that I think the psalmist is alluding to. This kind of wise numbering knows that in every day there is something of profound value, however buried, to be found. It still knows and cherishes what is valued from yesterday. It also knows and hopes in what will be valued tomorrow. But without needing to cling to a valued past day or rush into a valued future day, wisdom honors the present day itself as worthy of being numbered—whether the day is ordinary or extraordinary, whether the value in a given day is something we receive or the small good we are able to give.
As followers of Jesus, there is additionally this: that in each day we number, our hearts of wisdom are seeking to acknowledge the presence of Christ. And that, perhaps, is all the value a day needs.
Suggestions:
1. Take this verse with you and ponder its meaning for you throughout the day. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What do you find of value in this present day?
2. Or read all of Psalm 90 to discover how this verse fits into this psalm.
3. Or comment with a photo of your own that is a window of this verse’s meaning for you.
Tomorrow’s psalm will be Psalm 91:1-2.
Starting January 1, 2016, for 150 days I am posting a daily psalm verse with a photo that is a visual meditation on the text for me. Each day a verse from the next psalm is chosen until all 150 psalms have been featured. To participate you may subscribe to my blog at https://elainedent.net or “friend” me on Facebook and watch for the daily links to blog posts. Disclaimer: I am not a photographer and most of the photos are from a cell phone or small camera while hiking the Appalachian Trail or the C&O Canal/Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
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