Daily Devotions
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
We live by clocks and calendars. Time to get up. Time for lunch. Time for a favorite television show. Time for bed. Marking off the days until school’s out.
But the psalmist thinks in broader perspective about God’s time, where a thousand years is like a day. We may live for 70 or 80 years, but they quickly pass and we fly away. In that context the psalmist prays, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Often we don’t number our days. We let them just drift along. We tell ourselves that there is always tomorrow. Then we realize that time is slipping by. We have failed to number our days.
Often we try to control our days. We make rigid plans. We try to control our future by disciplined diet and exercise and the careful accumulation of wealth. Then we learn that many things are beyond our control. Sickness comes. Business recession intrudes. Death comes to close family members and threatens us. Uneasy, we are afraid.
But God cares. The psalmist writes, “Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14). God numbers our days out of love. He sent His Son to live for us. Jesus carefully numbered His days in obedience to the Father. He died for us and rose again. He forgives our slipshod living and our feeble efforts at controlling time. He teaches us to look to His mercy. Each day, then, offers a fresh opportunity to live for Him, making the most of the time until eternity beckons. Clocks, watches, and calendars remain so that we may number our days by God’s gracious time.
PRAYER: Lord, give us wisdom to live our days in Your forgiving love. Amen.
(Devotions from “My Daily Devotion” by Dr. Stephen J. Carter, copyright 1988 CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. For ordering information, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit www.cph.org.)