Make the Days Count; Psalm 90, Proverbs 4

May the mumbling commence!

Teach us, O Lord, to count our days.  Teach us to make the days count.  These are the words of a popular contemporary Christian song.  They have much meaning.  Yesterday is gone.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed.  Live today as if it were the last day of your life.  One day soon it will be.

It may seem like a morbid thought, but it is no less true.  No one will live forever – in this state.  And, the older I get, the more I am glad of that fact.  Getting older is not for sissies!

So, teach us, O Lord, to count our days.  Teach us to make the days count.  I think of these words as I read Psalm ninety.  Read a passage of it:

The days of our lives are seventy years;

And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,

Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;

For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 

Who knows the power of Your anger?

For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. 

So teach us to number our days,

That we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Verses 10-12)

I often make the effort to look at the obituaries in the local paper.  I joke that I am looking for my own obituary.  If I am dead, I want to lay down and rest!  But, really, I look to see if there is anyone I know who has passed away. 

I also look at the ages of the deceased.  Some boast quite a bit more than seventy or even eighty years.  Some have hardly lived longer than I am.  Some are about the same age.  And some are younger than I am.

Looking at the obituaries in the paper is a reminder of my mortality.  It puts into proper perspective what I may we laboring and toiling and worrying about.  It puts into proper perspective my own sorrow.  Obituaries also remind me of my final destination.  You know the song “I’ll Fly Away”?  I cannot help but think of that song as I read this passage…

Then, there is the anger of the Lord to consider.  That’s a tough one.  I like to think of God as a God of love.  But, looking at my life and the lives of others, I can understand the anger and frustration that our Creator must have. 

God has made us for a specific purpose – to be in relationship with the Lord and all of creation.  God has made us to worship and praise him.  We must choose this path daily.  Often we fail.

Think how frustrated we can get when our cars cease functioning as they should… or our computers crash… or our internet is down.  And we did not even create these things!

Make us pliable in Your hands, O Lord.  May we ever be open to instruction.  It is life to us – the life of eternity with God, both of quality and quantity eternal.  Read from Proverbs chapter four:

Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,

And the years of your life will be many. 

I have taught you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in right paths. 

When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,

And when you run, you will not stumble. 

Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;

Keep her, for she is your life. (Verses 10-13)

Teach us to count the days.  Teach us to make the days count.  May we walk and run in the ways that you teach.  Then, we will be neither spiritually nor mentally nor physically obese.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out