Teach Us To Number Our Days

GOD’S DAYS ARE INFINITE

Moses starts in 90:1-2 with the fact that God’s days are infinite, to the point that 1,000 years for Him are as a 24 hour day for us. God is not limited by time, he is “from everlasting to everlasting,” to the next 365 days are nothing for him, just a drop in the bucket.

MAN’S DAYS ARE FINITE

Moses then shifts to our days, dragging on like an eternity in 90:3-6. For us, each day is not a drop in the bucket, they are long and sorrowful. We are in the midst of “destruction” due to the sin of Adam. In 90:0, Moses says “we spend our years as a tale that is told.” Simply meaning, we are on an annual cycle of 365 cycles, going to sleep, waking up, laboring by the sweat of our brow, going back to sleep, waking back up, et., etc., etc. As this cycle pressed forward as a tale that is told, we are being “cut down, and withereth.” Is there any purpose to this life? What’s the difference, we are all going to die anyway — there is a 100% mortality rate, 1 out of every 1 person dies. We all understand what CT Studd was saying:

MAN IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR EACH DAY

Moses moves on to 90:7-12, where we are accountable to “apply our hearts unto wisdom,” to make every day most effective for God and not for us. Hence, why Moses asks God, “teach us to number our days.” Moses was praying for God to teach His people how to best utilize our days. Then, according to 90:10, we could have over 29,000 finite days to use for God’s infinite honor and glory.

Understand this, though our days are short, we will keep our priorities in the right order for God if we focus on the things that really matter for Him.

GOD IS MERCIFUL ALONG THE WAY

When we fail, and we will fail, God remembers exactly who and what we are because He is the One who created us.

Moses understood this first hand, he witnessed this for 40 years in the wilderness, he knew the fidelity of God would “satisfy us early with thy mercy,” he truthfully believed that God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Going into our next tale that is told, another long and hard 365 days, we are assured on the authority of God’s Word that His God’s mercies never change. It is only by God’s mercies that we can enjoy success in our hard and feeble labors and sorrows, though every finite tale that is told.