“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10 NIV)
In many countries around the globe, today is the last day of the year 2024. Many people feel a tinge of melancholy on New Year’s Eve. They look back on the past year and sigh: Time has flown by!
Moses expresses the same feeling a little differently in Psalm 90: “We fly away.” He compares us humans to grass that grows in the morning and withers by evening. Our lives are short and fleeting. Even if we become 80 years old, our life is like a passing dream. Before you know it, it is over. What a contrast to the Lord God! About Him Moses says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” (Psalm 90:2)
The above observations can easily lead to a fatalistic attitude, such as, ‘Our life is just fleeting, and moreover it is full of sorrow. What is the point of life anyway?’ But Moses takes a different direction. He asks God, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” He expresses the desire to gain wisdom and understanding by viewing his own life span in the perspective of God’s light. Is this also your desire? Then close out the year 2024 with the following prayer:
‘Lord, please teach me to number my days so that I may grow in wisdom.’