“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. Who considers the power of Your anger, and Your wrath according to the fear of You? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:10-12
Devotional Thought For The Day
It is interesting to note that life expectancy back in the days of Moses was approximately what it is today in the modern world – seventy to eighty years. Of course there have been many times in the past 3,400 years when life expectancy was far less, even in Europe and America, and even today there are many areas in the world where life expectancy is much less. On a personal level, the psalmist speaks of God knowing the measure or number of our days: “O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days.” [Ps. 39:4] Likewise, God’s Word informs us that God also controls such matters on a wider scale: “And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him.” [Acts 17:26,27] Of course, this would not be an issue or concern for us had Adam and Eve adhered to God’s Word back in the Garden of Eden, when He instructed them to eat of all of the trees in the garden, including the tree of life, rather than eating from the one tree that He had designated as a tree of death, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. [Gen. 2:16,17]
So now we live with the reality of “numbered” days as we age and our physical vitality wanes, and as we prepare to meet God in the life which is to come. All of this is what Moses referred to as “toil and trouble” and “the power of Your anger, and Your wrath.” Yet Moses encourages us to consider experiencing the “curse” on human sin in view of Gods’ great love and His will that we experience the healing of His love for us. He wrote of our giving consideration to our sin and the negative consequences of sin “according to the fear of You.” At first, considering the context of aging and death and the wrath of God, we might assume Moses had in mind being “afraid” of God. However, the psalmist helps us to grasp the much broader concept of “the fear of the Lord” when he wrote: “If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.” [Psalm 130:3,4] True fear of God, that which is godly and healthy, surely takes into consideration God’s wrath over our sin and our need to repent, to sorrow over and confess and turn away from our sins; but more importantly it rests ourselves in His promise of full and complete forgiveness and pardon, His great love for us in giving us His Son as the blood atonement for our sins.
Giving serious consideration and thought to these realities is “applying our hearts to wisdom” – especially as we consider the shortness of life in this fallen world of sin and the issues of the next life, either eternal condemnation or eternal life in the joy and bliss of God’s new heavens and earth. The seriousness of our temporal condition is also the gift of God, designed to move us to honesty about our sin and to genuine repentance, so that we might be renewed in the knowledge of God’s great love for us. The promise of the Lord Jesus is clear: “He that believes the Son has everlasting life,” and Scripture assures us that “whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” [Joel 2:32; Rom. 10:13] This is real wisdom, to know God’s promises and to put our faith and trust in them, so that we also call on the Name of the Lord and receive His salvation. This is “knowing” God, and Jesus assures us: “This is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” [John 17:4] This “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom [Prov. 9:10], and we receive this knowledge of God, fear of God, and wisdom through His Word, the Holy Scripture.
Warmed, encouraged, and enlightened by the love of God and His gracious and merciful salvation, we recognize our need for and we hunger and thirst to grow in wisdom, the wisdom of God, of His ways, for the short life that we have in this world. Those who know and believe the love that God has for us in Christ Jesus have a “heart of wisdom,” and are eager to grow in the love that God’s love begets and nurtures in our hearts. This not only pleases God and accomplishes His purposes, but it bears witness to the whole world of the reality and power of God’s great love for us, inviting others to also consider their days and to gain a heart of wisdom – in the assurance of God’s love and salvation. Moses prays to God to teach us these things; only God can do so, through His Word and by the power of His Holy Spirit! It is interesting that what was good and true in Moses’ day remains good and true in our day – and that the dynamics are identical. Let us also pray that God teach us to number our days, and to direct our hearts into His wisdom!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for providing all that we need to have proper and healthy fear of God and for giving us a heart of wisdom through faith and trust in You! Grant that we continue growing in wisdom as we pass through the toil and trouble of this life! Help us see the scope of our days and to look forward to the eternal peace and joy that You have prepared for us in Your heavenly kingdom. Amen.