A Desperate Plea for Divine Lessons
Psalm 90:12, 14
This week in DTFR, we divert from our usual study in 2 Timothy to think about time and the brevity of life. We begin today by looking at Psalm 90:12 and 14.
Psalm 90:12, 14
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90, authored by Moses, is one of the most popular, profound, and powerful chapters in the Bible’s collections of Psalms. More specifically, our verses for today (12-14) are sobering words that cause to slow down amidst our busy world and think more deeply about the uncomfortable and yet inevitable reality of death. And uncomfortbale as the topic of death may be, our verses from today will show us that it is often a proper understanding of death that enables us to live life with joy and wisdom. So as we look at verses 12 and 14, my prayer is that your soul will exhorted to live life to the fullest with all wisdom and edified with reminders of God’s matchless love. Let’s read our verses for today.
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom… satisfy us in the morning with you steadfast love.” (Psalm 90:12,14). As we look at this text, we can first notice that Moses’ request of the Lord to “teach us to number our days” is very interesting. Why? Well, primarily because of what Moses says in the previous verses. Several things Moses says seems to indicate that Moses already knows how to number his days. He says things like, “For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.” The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is toil and trouble; they are soon gone and we fly away.” (Ps 90:9-10). Interesting right? Although Moses makes several allusions to the brevity and temporal nature of life, he still goes on to ask for God’s divine teaching to help him “number his days”. So what exactly is he asking for here?
Well, to understand what Moses is getting at in this verse, we have to look at the second half of the verse. The totality of verse 12 reads, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”. With this additional bit of context, we see that Moses is not only asking for an awareness of the brevity of life. It seems that what Moses is really asking the Lord for is a heart of wisdom gained through the means of God giving him an acute and ongoing awareness of the brevity of his days. Moses is asking the Lord to help his knowledge of the brevity of life penetrate from mere head acceptance to life-altering heart transformation. Moses is asking that God would frequently remind him of the short span of his life and that as he is reminded he would gain a heart of wisdom, a heart that fears God above men, and a heart that is filled with reverence, awe, and adoration for his God.
“It seems that what Moses is really asking the Lord for is a heart of wisdom gained through the means of God giving him an acute and ongoing awareness of the brevity of his days. Moses is asking the Lord to help his knowledge of the brevity of life penetrate from mere head acceptance to life-altering heart transformation.”
You know another reason why Moses asks God for divine lessons and enlightenment? Because only God can bring about any true heart change. Only the Spirit of God can cause factual truths that we know in our heads to penetrate into the depths of our heart. Because keep in mind, at the time of writing this Psalm, Moses knows (in the head) the fact that his life is short, but he wants his head knowledge to drip over into his heart and produce a Spirit-given fear of God, and a constant awareness and recognition of the brevity of life that will lead him to live a life of godly wisdom. I say constant because in the verse prior Moses makes it clear that we face a common temptation to forget to consider the eternal wrath of God and the potent power of God’s righteous anger against unrighteousness. Moses knows he is so prone to forget. Yet he also knows that only God can give him the heart of wisdom that makes the regular practice of ruminating and reflecting on the sobering yet inescapable and unavoidable reality of the brevity of life. So what does he do?
He pours out his heart before God! He eagerly and yet humbly begs his benevolent Father to change his heart by teaching him the brevity and shortness of his days! The verses that follow this desperate plea for wisdom cannot be ignored if we are to truly understand how to arrive at this heart of wisdom. Because shortly after Moses cries out to God for divine lessons, he then says, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” How fascinating! What is the correlation between the two pleas for an awareness of the brevity of life that leads to wise living, and, a plea for daily satisfaction in the love of God? Well, it is namely that a heart of wisdom is a heart that finds its total and complete delight and satisfaction in God and God alone! A heart of wisdom is one that recognizes its need for daily dependence on the Word of God which alone can transform the heart by the renewing of the mind! A heart of wisdom is a heart that belongs to a person who knows that only the daily dose of God’s love can adequately supply and sustain a life of wise living. To put it more succinctly, daily satisfaction in God’s love is the source and sustenance for a life of wise living.
“Daily satisfaction in God’s love is the source and sustenance for a life of wise living.”
And is not God’s love at the very core and center of the gospel? Was it not love that motivated God to send His Son as a sacrifice for our sins? (John 3:16). Was it not love that caused Christ to be sent as a propitiation for our sins? (1 John 4:10). Love is so central to the Christian faith. If we fail to constantly remind ourselves of the love of God that leads to a love for others, we can never spiritually survive. We must be regularly satisfied in God’s love. If we are to be regularly satisfied in God’s love, we must spend time with Him by listening to Him through His Word and talking to Him through prayer. And little by little and day by day as we seek to be satisfied daily in God’s love, we will grow in our ability to number our days and gain a heart of wisdom. God answers our desperate plea for divine lessons on the brevity of life by giving us the revelation of Himself to daily revel in and reflect on. He gives us a guide, a lamp and a light, He gives us the precious spiritual bread of the Word of God that is able to daily salivate our spiritual appetites, and satiate our souls’ deepest longings and hungers.
“God answers our desperate plea for divine lessons on the brevity of life by giving us the revelation of Himself to daily revel in and reflect on. He gives us a guide, a lamp and a light, He gives us the precious spiritual bread of the Word of God that is able to daily salivate our spiritual appetites, and satiate our souls’ deepest longings and hungers.”
As we seek a heart of wisdom, may we always turn to the place where wisdom is found. By the grace of God may we always recognize our need for daily dependence on the Spirit of God, and disciplined devotion to the Word of God. Psalm 90:15-17 says, “Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” May God indeed continue to show His power to us, and make us daily glad in Him. May He teach us to number our days, and remind us to daily turn to Him for satisfaction in His never-ending love! Oh how we desperately plea for divine lessons oh God! Would you make us wise through your Word we pray! Amen!