Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Psalm 90:12-17 speaks of the value of numbering our days. The idea at work here is having a reasoned account of our time. However, as we look closely at the Psalm we see it is not so much about the quantity of time we may or may not have. It is more about the wisdom to understand what those days mean.
Some of the days given to us by the Lord seem to lack in compassion (v. 13). These are hard times. They are the days when we suffer, when we toil, when we fail. How do we understand these days in light of our concept of a compassionate God? Maybe they help us understand our Lord’s suffering. Maybe we gain a grasp of the frustration endured by those who are also dealing with hardship. Maybe we learn that we depend on the Lord in both good times and bad.
Where do we find our satisfaction if we are numbering our days well? Verse 14 says we find it in God’s faithful love. It is God’s character, not our circumstances, which gives us joy and gladness.
When we number our days rightly we see ourselves as we are in truth, as those who are sinful and deserve the worst possible consequences. Yet some days are remarkably good! We have undeserved pleasures. Verse 15 asks that those times of pleasure may be given to us by God’s mercy. This is also a feature of numbering our days rightly.
The Psalmist finally asks for God’s favor. If we number our days rightly we will see the favor of God. He is the one who pours out the good we need.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.