We are to live as though our days are numbered, so that our days reveal and reflect wisdom...

This week, we are looking at graduation and the reality that while we live our life in the present and act as though the future is just that, in the future, the future does come. And the future comes sooner than we expected. Wednesday, we looked at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Psalms. Moses, who was the writer of this Psalm, after reminding us of the reality that life is short, wanted to make unmistakably clear that he proclaimed God as being who He was, which is the One who is the giver and taker of life that rules and reigns over time and life. 

Now a natural question that could arise here is this: “Well Dave, why is life short? Why don’t we live as long as Methuselah? Why are people here one moment and then swept away suddenly by either tragedy or sickness?” As Moses continues, we see him reveal for us the answer to these questions in Psalm 90:7:

 For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.

Here we see Moses, as he looked into the rearview mirror of his life, reflect on God’s right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity.  Moses had watched as God exercised His right and just response on the nation of Egypt who worshipped Pharaoh as god instead of the one true God.

Moses had watched as the Jewish people responded to God’s deliverance from slavery by selfishly rebelling and rejecting God and instead desiring to go back to Egypt. And Moses had watched as God exercised His anger and His wrath. What is so interesting in that the word anger here, in the language that Moses wrote his prayer in, is a word picture of the flaring of one’s nose in anger.

You see, the just and holy God of justice did not stand idly by and watch people rebel and reject Him in a way that diminishes Him to others. Instead, God exercised His right and just response to that selfishness and rebellion, which is what the word wrath means. God’s anger and wrath was not unwarranted or excessive. It was just and right in its response. God set their selfishness and rebellion clearly before the Jewish people. The selfishness and rebellion that was done in secret was exposed for all to see.

And as God responded to the selfishness and rebellion of the Jewish people, their years on earth turned downward. Moses watched as the Jewish people wandered in the desert for forty years as a consequence for their selfishness and rebellion, until all who were guilty died. And as they wandered during their death sentence, Moses remembers that the Jewish people finished their years with a sigh. In other words, the last years of their lives were completed with a groaning whisper. What started as loud rejoicing ended in groaning and whimpering.

Because that is what selfishness and rebellion does. We live in a fallen and broken world where selfish and rebellious people do things that hurt God and others. We find ourselves in rebelling against God and others and as the victims of others who are in rebellion. We experience tragedy, disease, and death as a result of the fallen and broken world we live in. Moses further unpacks this reality in verse 10:

 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.

Now if Moses was writing this in the language we us in our culture today, verse 10 would sound something like this: “As for the years of our lives, we are fortunate to live 70 years. If we are blessed with good health and a strong body, we might make it to our 80^th birthday. Yet even the best days of our lives are but trouble and sorrow, because before we know it our time is up and we die.”

Now isn’t that encouraging? Moses here is revealing for us the reality that as we live life here on earth, the years fly by and then we die. This week, I was reminded that in two years, my high school class will be celebrating their 30 year reunion. 30 years, where did they go? You see, the years go by, don’t they? Three weeks ago Julie and I celebrated our 20^th wedding anniversary.

You see, the years go by don’t they. Where did all that time go? This morning, can you relate? Moses point here is that the timeless reality is that the years fly by and then you die. And it is this reality that leads Moses to ask a powerful question in verse 11:

 Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

In light of who God is as the One who is the giver and taker of life that rules and reigns over time and life.  In light of how the just and holy God responds to the selfishness and rebellion of man; In light of the reality that the years fly by and then you die; in light of all that Moses had experienced in his life; here is what Moses asks: “Who takes to heart the intensity of God’s response to selfishness and rebellion and gives Him the reverence and respect that He is due?”

So let’s ask ourselves that question. Do we take to heart the intensity of God’s response to selfishness and rebellion and give Him the reverence and respect that He is due? Moses asks that question because Moses has seen what you and I have seen. Moses asks that question because Moses has seen in himself what you and I see when we look in the mirror. Who takes to heart the intensity of God’s response to selfishness and rebellion and gives Him the reverence and respect that He is due?

Now this is not a very uplifting passage of scripture, is it? And for some, you might be thinking to yourself, “Dave, what would possess you to pick such a downer of a passage for Graduation? Couldn’t you have picked something a little more positive?” If you find yourself asking that question, here would be my response.

The reason that I picked this passage is because in the midst of this prayer, Moses makes a statement that is so profound; Moses makes a statement that is so powerful, that every person in this room that is over forty years old will immediately nod their head in agreement. Moses makes a statement that if we could have a do life over again, that we wish someone would have told to us when we were graduating high school. So let’s look together at this powerfully profound statement in Psalm 90:12:

 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

In light of who God is as the One who is the giver and taker of life that rules and reigns over time and life.  In light of how the just and holy God responds to the selfishness and rebellion of man; In light of the reality that the years fly by and then you die; Moses prayer to God is that God would teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

In other words Moses asks God that He would teach us to live as though our days are numbered. Now there are two reasons why Moses asked God to teach us to live as though our days are numbered.

First, Moses asked God to teach us to live as though our days are numbered because our days are numbered.  We are given a finite number of days here on earth. And as Moses has already declared, those days fly by and then we die. Graduates you are only 18 once. We only experience our 20’s once. We only experience our 30’s once. We only experience our 40’s…..uh, once. We only experience our 50’s once. We only experience our 60’s once. We only experience our 70’s once.

And here’s the thing: we all know of people who never had the opportunity to experience their 20’s. We all know of people who never had the opportunity to experience their 30’s. Their 40’s. And the older we get the less people will experience those numbers. And here is Moses, who experienced 120 years, looking back and recognizing that years fly by and now it is near the time for Moses to die. And his prayer for us today is that God would teach us to live as though our days are numbered, because they are.

Second, Moses asked God to teach us to live as though our days are numbered so that we may present to God a heart of wisdom. Now when you see the word wisdom in the Bible, the word wisdom refers to a developed skill for living life that brings positive results. Moses prayer is that God would move in the hearts of His people that they would live as though their days were numbered, so that their lives would produce positive results when it came to their relationship with God and when it came to their relationship with others.

And it is here, in Moses prayer, that we discover a timeless truth that is my prayer for you as you graduate and transition to what God has next for you. And that timeless truth that we are to live as though our days are numbered, so that our days reveal and reflect wisdom. You see, when we live as though our days are numbered, we live with wisdom when it comes to our relationship with God.

We live recognizing that God is the giver and taker of life and that every day of life is a gift from God. We live recognizing that there are consequences for selfishness and rebellion and that we will answer to God for how we live our life. We live our lives recognizing that time flies and that we will only have one opportunity to leverage our lives into what matters most in life at each stage of our life.

And when we live as though our days are numbered, we live with wisdom when it comes to our relationship with others. We live with wisdom when it comes to our dating relationships. We live with wisdom when it comes to our relationships with teachers and employers. And we live with wisdom when it comes to our relationships with those who are far from God so that we can be the vehicle that God uses to reveal His Son Jesus and the message of the gospel to them.

So, here is the question for all of us, regardless of age and stage of life. The question is this: are you living as though your days are numbered, so that your days reveal and reflect wisdom?

Because, as we have seen, they are.