“Teach us to number our days,

     that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” 90:12.

Psalm 90 was written by Moses about whom the Bible says in Numbers 12:7-8, that the “Lord spoke face to face as a man speaks with his friend.” It is widely believed that this is the only Psalm penned by a man with such a high celebrity status with the Lord. He has mainly three things to say about man and God. He has much to say in this Psalm about the brevity of human life, the end of human life-he says we fly away at the end and the punishment and anger of God. 

The Psalm begins with the everlasting nature of God. It says, “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” 

Then he says the very small of timespan (brief time) men have on this earth. He wrote people are like the new grass of the morning. In the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. He also says our days may come to seventy years or eighty if our strength endures. However, the best of them are but trouble and sorrow. They quickly pass, and we fly away. Why did he say, “fly away” at the end of our days? Bible says in Ecclesiastes 12:7, “and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Our body would be buried on the earth, and the spirit flies away to God if you are a child of God who put your trust in the salvation of God available in the person of Jesus Christ. Bible says, “as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.” Apostle Paul also says he “would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Therefore at the end of our days here on this earth, we fly away to the presence of the loving Lord or eternity without God.

Thirdly, Moses continues to say much about the anger and punishment of God. He is a man of God who witnessed the fierce anger of God against the rebelliousness and disbelief of people during the journey of the children of Israel to their promised land. He himself experienced the anger and punishment of God even though God spoke to Him face to face. He wrote, “We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath”.

Moses wrote mainly three things about God in this Psalm. First God is eternal, everlasting and He brought forth the whole world (verses 1-2 and 4), second God is the true dwelling place or refuge throughout all generations of men (vs.1), thirdly, God’s love is unfailing in the midst of all the judgments and confusions (vs.14). 

It is amazing to listen to Moses, the great man of God, and keep these truths in our lives. The brevity of life, at the end we fly away, the anger of God against the sins and iniquities. 

With all these background truths read our insight, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” What does he mean by it? We do not know how long we would live here. Life is brief, we are going to fly away and we live in the midst of the fierce anger of God against sins and iniquities. However, God is eternal and everlasting in contrast to our brevity, He is our true dwelling place/refuge, and His love is unfailing although we may fail. Therefore number of our days. It does not mean number how many more days we have here because we do not know when we would fly away. It does mean by considering or reckoning these truths about God and man. 

What is the result? If we consider these truths, we may obtain wisdom. Who is the true wisdom? Bible says in 1st Corinthians 1:23-24, “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Our pursuit of wisdom based on these understandings would lead us to the foot of Jesus Christ who is the wisdom of God. It does not say Jesus Christ is one of the wisdom of God. He is the only wisdom of God given by God. You see, Christ crucified for our sins and iniquities is foolishness to this God rejecting world, but it is the power and wisdom to the one who comes and accepts Christ as their savior and Lord.

“Father in heaven, I understand how brief my life is here. I also understand you are everlasting and eternal. I  know you are my only refuge. I know you have unfailing love in the midst of your anger and judgments. I accept the only wisdom of God given to people- your Son, Jesus Christ, who died, buried and rose again for my sins. Please save  me and grant me your favor, salvation and eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, I Pray. Amen.”