Psalm Devotional
Counting the Days
“I’m counting the days,” we say when we look forward to some great event in our near future—maybe a wedding or the birth of a child. But saying “my days are numbered” is a horse of a different color. Now we are talking about ends, not beginnings.
Such talk makes most people uncomfortable. They tend to laugh it off and change the subject. The psalmist—Moses in his old age—brings both beginnings and ends together when he says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12).
The psalm as a whole is about the shortness of our life and the wisdom of making our days count for both time and eternity. Solomon counsels us, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1). One day in April 1973, my father left home for his work as usual, but before the day was done he had died of a heart attack. He was only 56.
Today is one day nearer eternity for all of us. Should this not affect how you live each day? The psalmist poses three leading questions to open up this theme.

