Moses didn’t end the psalm attributed to him by only talking about God’s “Eternal Nature.” We saw last week that although “God is not bound by time, He is very concerned about our time.” Moses continued his psalm by making the following request to God: “Teach us to number our days so that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Now Moses wasn’t talking about counting days because no one knows how many days we have ahead of us. He is telling us that regardless of how many days we have left, we need to spend them wisely, making every day count. 

Although the psalm was originally written to the Israelites, Moses was deeply concerned about each of our lives, that we would each live a life full of meaning and purpose, making wise decisions every day. And notice that Moses didn’t expect all of this to happen overnight, as he asked God to “teach us” how to do this. As He teaches us, we need to learn what lessons He has for us. And so, I encourage us to wake up each morning with a silent prayer lifted heavenward, “God, I want to live a wise and meaningful life today, so I ask you to teach me what I need to do today with my tasks as well as my relationships to accomplish that. Amen.”

And then Moses speaks of God being sorry for His people, and I suspect that His sorrow comes over all the “wasted” days and years they had spent, and we are all guilty of that. Wasted time is something that not only brings sorrow to God, but to us as well (Ps. 90:13). I suspect that we can all look back wondering about all the time that we have wasted in “trivial pursuits” and in doing things that brought little meaning to our lives or to the lives of others.

But Moses didn’t want to dwell on the past because he asked God to “Satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days” (Ps. 90:14). Notice that Moses talks about God’s lovingkindness that will bring satisfaction and joy to all of our days as we do those things that please Him. In response, His favor will rest upon us as He brings abundant blessings into our lives.

And then I love how Moses concludes this Psalm by asking God to, “Let Thy work appear to Thy servants….And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands” (Ps. 90:16-17). What a great concluding request. In the end, our work will be His work, which He will confirm in us and give permanence to it. Friends, this Psalm is about leaving a legacy, a legacy that will extend beyond our own lifetime. But let’s remember that such a legacy is built during “our time” here on earth and continues beyond “our time” into the time of those who follow us. 

In 2019, I want to encourage each of us to leave the “wasted days” behind and begin to make each day count by living a life full of meaning and purpose. Let’s ask God to always let His work be our work, and that in doing so, the works that we do will be confirmed, leaving a legacy for future generations.  

Let’s enjoy living purposefully in 2019. Blessings to each of you.