Every new year I find myself meditating on Psalm 90 and the brevity of life. It’s one of my favorite passages, so much so that I named my consulting company the Ninety Twelve Group after Psalm 90:12. This is unique in the fact that it’s a psalm attributed to Moses, which he most likely wrote toward the end of his life. The tone of Psalm 90 is one of lament on behalf of the covenant people of Israel–lament over sin, the brevity of life, and how difficult life can be at times. The psalm begins with the recognition that God is a shelter, is eternal, and is the Creator, a reference back to Genesis 1-3. God has existed and always will exist. Moses encouraged the people, probably around the same time, that “the eternal God is your dwelling place” (Dt 33:27).
Eternity is ultimately the answer to spiritual homelessness and human rootlessness.
Verses three through eleven remind us, as spiritual heirs to God’s covenant, that life is short and filled with hardships. Humbling to human pride, the length of life is compared to that of a night shift, a flood, a dream, and grass (Ps 90:4-5). Even if a human lives seventy or eighty years–or even a thousand years–it is still considered brief in comparison to God’s eternality. Moses gives the sense that humanity is ever-renewed, yet ever-fading at the same time. Why is this the case? The universal shadow of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden is cast upon all humanity–-we are unified in our sinful nature and sin’s consequences. The psalmist then asks, “Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath?” (90:11). When living for the moment, Israel certainly wasn’t considering those realities.
Moses concludes this psalm with eight specific requests of Yahweh, requests for God to increase His people’s self-awareness and intentionality throughout their short lives. In verse 12, Moses asked the LORD to teach them to number their days. The word number has the idea of counting, assigning, or prioritizing. This practice should result in awareness of life’s brevity and then in wise living. In verse 13, Moses asked Yahweh to return and have pity on Israel for their hardships. In verse 14, perhaps writing at night, Moses looked longingly at the morning, considering the presence of God as He met with them. He asked to be satisfied or quenched with Yahweh’s loving loyalty (the idea of steadfast love), a satisfaction that would generate joy and gladness. Again in verse 15, Moses prayed that they as a covenant people would flourish (“be glad”) every day of their lives. Joy in their circumstances was directly connected to the faithful embrace of their covenant with Yahweh.
In the final two verses, Moses offered three additional requests of the LORD. He desired for God’s work and power to be put on display among the people and to the next generation. He also wanted God’s favor and beauty to be evident in their lives while He “established” the work of their hands (v.17). The term establish has to do with arranging and directing. The term work can also mean labor, business, or occupation. Moses’s prayer was for God to demonstrate His sovereign directing in the mundane affairs of their lives, especially through their daily work. Their work and their mindset about their work had the potential to be characterized by joy. Moses prayed that their work would result in the flourishing of each person in their community.
So before being swept away in the busyness of your day, allow God to meet with you through this psalm of Moses. Allow Him to generate a more refined and sustained self-awareness in your life, making you more mindful that life indeed is very short and it needs to be lived intentionally. Take the initiative to meet with a friend or trusted advisor to help you reorient your view of how you spend your time–your minutes, hours, days, months, years.
Consider starting or revamping a consistent morning routine that allows you to incorporate time in God’s Word, in prayer to Him, and in meditation on all He is and is doing in your life. If you practice some affirmations, as we have discussed before, make sure you’re daily meditating on truths of the Bible. You could begin by thinking about this psalm, these words Moses wrote regarding God’s eternality, life’s brevity, and flourishing in our work.
Friend, God wants to bless you in every way, to bless the work of your hands each day.
Here are a few resources that will help you in your work. First is the book, Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper (2007). “This book will warn you not to get caught up in a life that counts for nothing. It will challenge you to live and die boasting in the cross of Christ and making the glory of God your singular passion.” (from the back cover).
And, here are three great songs, one very old and two modern ones, that are based on Psalm 90. The first is the old hymn, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” (Isaac Watts, 1719). The second one is, “Psalm 90” (“Satisfy Us with Your Love”) by Shane & Shane (2021). And the third one is “Establish the Work of Our Hands” by The Porter’s Gate (2017).
Let me close this discussion with a prayer:
Father, teach me to number my days so that I may gain a heart of wisdom. Return, O Yahweh. Pity me, your servant. Satisfy me each morning with Your faithful love so I will rejoice and be glad all my days. Make me glad for as many days as You give me here. Show Your work to Your servants and even our children. Let Your favor and beauty be upon me and establish the work of my hands. Amen.
[Written by Dr. Bobo Beck, the author of Wisdom Calling and host of The Wisdom Calling Podcast, where he helps Christian professionals think more critically and live more strategically, all from a wisdom-based perspective. This discussion is adapted from Volume 1/Devotional 20, Counting the Days & Making the Days Count, which is part of the Wisdom Calling devotional series. For more information, visit www.wisdomcalling.org.]