Church, I pray we pursue Christ with all our might during the time he has given to us. How do you number your days well? I want to suggest we pray more and prayer better. At the end of Psalm 90, the author offers a pattern for prayer. The author shows us four items we should pray for in the midst of crisis.
First, WISDOM (verse 12). Wisdom is knowing how to living rightly in response to God and his Gospel. Pray, every day, that God gives you a heart of wisdom. Let that be the music of your life.
Second, FORGIVENESS (verse 13). I’ll be honest, this is a prayer many of us need to learn to pray. There are many people who waste years of their lives walking with un-forgiveness. It causes bitterness in the soul. It robs LINKS off your chain of life. It steals your joy. FORGIVE! And forgive quickly. In verse 13 the psalmist writes.
Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants!
(Psalm 90:13, ESV)
Our God is a God of forgiveness. He spilt his own blood on the cross so that we could be forgiven, and so we could have the power to forgive others. Don’t waste your time withholding forgiveness.
Third, STABILITY (verse 14). Look at how beautiful verse 14 is:
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
(Psalm 90:14, ESV)
This, friends, is the goal. If you can live everyday rejoicing in the steadfast love of the Lord, you won’t waste your time. You were made for this. Everyday God wants you to wake up, experience his mercy, and be a person of joy. If you are walking through life right now with no joy, ask yourself, why? Ask the Lord to show you who, or what, stole your joy, but then come back to the cross. Come home. Only Christ can satisfy.
Fourth, RENEWAL (verse 15). When you come back to your true dwelling place in Christ, you will be renewed.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.
(Psalm 90:15, ESV)
Wow. May that be our prayer! “Lord, make us glad! Whatever pain we have walked through during our time on earth … make us glad in you—the author of time! Teach us! Shape us! Renew us!” When that is our prayer, we will use our time wisely.
So, know where to DWELL. Reflect on the DUST. In prayer, learn to number your DAYS. It’s then, as you heart looks upward in prayerful song, that you will gain a Heart of Wisdom.
CONCLUSION: The Heart of Wisdom
Did you notice that wisdom is linked to time? Why? It is the fool who does not consider the time they have. It is the fool who wastes their time on frivolous things. A person who wastes time does not understand their purpose on this earth, which is to give glory to God!
Friends, we live in challenging times. Some of us are walking through tragedy right now. Other of us, we are facing hard questions or hurdles in life. Others still are facing health challenges. The question is, when those challenges come, and they will, how are you using your time?
We all have a preset Paper Chain the our Creator gave to us. He wants to use us in powerful ways. But he also wants us to trust him and love him and pursue him. Take stock of the links, they are coming off day after day, year after year. And one day you will come to the end of the chain, and you will be face to face with the living God. He is going to look at you and say, “how did you use your time?” And you will give an account. What do you want him to say? “Well done …” or “Depart from me …”?
Which do you want? Don’t you want the favor of God in your life? So many of us are running away from God for selfish reasons. Some of us, we know God is calling us to go in a certain direction, or to live a certain way. We know favor is over there, but we go over there. When we don’t follow Jesus with all our hearts.
We are missing the links as they fall off the chain, don’t miss them!
At the end of Psalm 90, the author is asking the question, Is God still with us? Do we still have his favor? They want to see God work in their lives. Lord, they pray, we need you! We need to see you work! Some of us, that is our prayer also. God we need to experience your steadfast love! We need to you know are with us. We need the truth of verse 14:
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
(Psalm 90:14, ESV)
Some of us, right now, we don’t have that joy, we are not satisfied. Stop running away from God. Do you want his Steadfast Love? Trust in Jesus. Give your life to Jesus. When you do, you will experience joy unimaginable, because Jesus himself is the heart of wisdom.
Know where to DWELL. Reflect on the DUST. Number your DAYS. Then you can sing the song of wisdom. Amen.
