Teach Us To Number Our Days
There are weeks when I get to Sunday and have to think for a minute about what I did on Monday. I know I was busy. I can look at the calendar and tell you where I was supposed to be. But ask me what I remember about the day, and I might have to sit with that question for a while.
That’s what made me stop at this verse in Psalm 90.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Psalm 90:12Â www.biblegateway.com
A prayer for wisdom
Psalm 90 begins by calling God the dwelling place of his people through all generations. Before the mountains were formed, God was there. Then the psalm gives us a picture of our own lives. We’re like grass that springs up in the morning and withers by evening. A whole life in the space of a day.
It’s a sobering psalm to read all the way through. It speaks of sorrow and of the things we try to hide that God sees plainly. And right there, in the middle of all that honesty, comes the prayer: Teach us. I like the plainness of those words. There’s a humility in asking God to teach us how to live the days we’ve been given. We can have plenty of years behind us and still need to ask.
The work of our hands
The ending surprised me. After asking for wisdom, the psalm asks God for compassion and joy. Then it asks God to establish the work of our hands. It asks twice, in fact. I find that comforting. The same prayer that takes seriously how quickly life goes by also takes seriously the work we have in front of us.
Maybe this Sunday you know exactly what you need wisdom for. There’s a decision you’ve been putting off, or a conversation you’ve been going over in your head. You can bring that particular thing to God. And if you can’t quite name what you need yet, the psalm gives you somewhere to begin. Teach us to number our days.
A prayer for Sunday
Lord, teach us to number our days. Give us wisdom for the decisions in front of us, mercy for the things we’ve gotten wrong, and joy in the days you give us. Bless the work of our hands. Amen.