Teach Us to Number Our Days: Wisdom from Psalm 90

Devotional

Day 1: God as Our Transient Dwelling Place

Life’s instability mirrors the Israelites’ wilderness journey—no permanent home, just daily dependence on God’s presence. Moses’ psalm paints Yahweh as both Creator and mobile refuge, a tent for wandering souls. Like morning grass, our days fade quickly, yet the One who birthed mountains walks with us through every temporary valley. Stability isn’t found in circumstances but in the God who outlasts them. [33:27]

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
(Psalm 90:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you seek stability when life feels rootless? How might embracing God as your “tent” shift your perspective on today’s uncertainties?

Day 2: Dust and Breath: Holding Mortality and Eternity

We are dirt clods animated by divine breath—both fragile and eternal. Bodies break down, but the Spirit within us yearns for home. Moses’ imagery of dust and the monks’ skulls aren’t morbid reminders but invitations: live fully awake to the miracle of breath while holding loosely to what decays. [36:03]

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
(Genesis 2:7, ESV)

Reflection: What habits help you honor both your physical limits and eternal purpose? When has acknowledging your “dust-ness” deepened your gratitude for God’s breath in you?

Day 3: The Fear That Leads to Fearlessness

True fear of the Lord isn’t cowering before a tyrant but trembling at the ocean’s power—then learning to trust the Boat. Isaiah’s purification and the psalmist’s awe reveal a paradox: only those who grasp God’s terrifying might can rest in His unshakable love. [53:02]

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you minimized God’s power? How might embracing holy fear actually increase your courage in current struggles?

Day 4: Praying for Disturbance

The ancient monks’ prayer challenges complacency: “Disturb us, Lord, when we sail too close to shore.” Like Moses begging for numbered days, this petition trades comfort for eternal impact. It’s not about seeking chaos but letting God stretch our vision beyond trivial pursuits. [01:03:14]

Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
(Psalm 90:12, ESV)

Reflection: What “safe shores” is God nudging you to leave? Where might playing it small with your life conflict with His expansive call?

Day 5: Living Today Like We’ll See Him Tomorrow

Funerals clarify priorities: legacy isn’t about years accumulated but love poured out. The pastor’s closing prayer—“Let me praise you with my life”—echoes Moses’ charge. Eternal living starts now, in ordinary moments infused with resurrection hope. [01:06:00]

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
(Hebrews 9:27-28, ESV)

Reflection: What would change today if you lived it as preparation for seeing Christ’s face? How does eternity reshape your definition of a “well-spent” day?

Sermon Summary

Moses opens Psalm 90 by calling God the dwelling place of his people through every generation. The wilderness image matters because Israel had little that was stable besides God’s presence. The tents moved, the future felt uncertain, and the people had to learn that the One who held their future was their refuge.

God stands before the mountains, before the earth, before time itself. Moses holds life and death together: God gives birth to creation, breathes ruach into dust, and eventually returns mortal bodies to dust again. The body breaks down, sometimes in painfully ordinary ways, but the Spirit-given part of a person longs for more than pain, decay, and a short run on earth. Death is not good because loss does not sting. Jesus himself wept at Lazarus’s tomb. Yet death is not the end for those held by the God who defeated it.

Moses compares human life to grass that springs up in the morning and dries up by evening. Life moves fast. The world offers plenty of ways to numb that reality: distraction, money, hookups, substances, entertainment, and short-lived pleasures. But if someone cannot see the sun, a streetlight starts to look impressive. If someone turns from the greatness of God, shadows begin to feel like enough.

Mortality, then, is not meant to make people morbid. The monks who kept skulls nearby and walked past open graves were not trying to be weird. They were trying not to waste their lives. Remembering death can make a person joyfully present, capable of true intimacy and love, and less impressed by trivial things. Life is short, life is hard, and then eternity stands before every person.

God’s greatness should produce a healthy fear, not terror before a monster and not mere polite reverence before a harmless deity. Isaiah trembled before Yahweh, yet God purified him and drew him near. The God who holds every breath and sustains the world says, “Do not fear, for I am with you.” His power is not against his children. His power is for them.

Moses therefore asks, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Wisdom remembers mortality, holds tightly to eternity, pours into people a few stages behind, and asks each morning, “Lord, what will you have me do today?” A life that refuses to be wasted lives today like it may see Christ tomorrow, because one day it will.

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Key Takeaways

1. God is the lasting dwelling place God remains steady when everything else shifts, including health, plans, homes, and seasons of life. Israel’s wilderness tents were temporary, but God’s presence was not. Refuge does not require a pain-free life; it requires a God who remains when life feels unstable. [33:27]
2. Mortality can make life more present The reminder that life is short need not crush a person into despair. It can expose how much energy gets spent chasing shadows and trying to speed through the very days later missed most. Numbering the days means receiving ordinary moments as gifts before they become memories. [49:33]
3. God’s power is for his people The fear of the Lord is bigger than being scared of punishment and deeper than casual respect. God’s holiness rightly undoes human arrogance, but his response to those who come near is purification, help, and presence. The same God who holds the world together says, “Do not fear.” [57:03]
4. Eternity changes what death means Grief remains real because love is real, and loss still stings because death is an enemy. Yet Christ’s victory means death is not a dead end but a door to resurrection. Future healing and restoration give courage for present suffering without pretending that suffering is small. [61:33]
5. A faithful life is given away Life gains weight when experience becomes a lifeline for somebody else. A seasoned believer, a wounded spouse, a skilled worker, or an older saint can walk alongside someone who needs wisdom and hope. Jesus shows that one of the best things a person can do with a short life is give it away.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[23:54] - A Prayer from Psalm 90
[25:46] - Facing Death as a Young Pastor
[29:58] - Teach Us to Number Our Days
[32:17] - Moses and the Wilderness Psalm
[34:15] - Life, Dust, and God’s Breath
[39:21] - Life Is Like Morning Grass
[41:30] - The Monks and Remembering Death
[46:15] - Life Is Short and Moves Fast
[49:57] - Wisdom for Every Season of Life
[52:32] - Give Your Life Away
[53:02] - The Fear of the Lord
[59:19] - Learning to Live Wisely and Well
[61:33] - Remember Mortality and Eternity
[63:14] - A Prayer Not to Waste Life

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Psalm 90
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
[23:43]

James 4:14
“yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
[39:41]

Isaiah 41:10
“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous

Sermon Clips

36s

“Third, and this is good news. It's not all bad news. If we, if number two was to think about your mortality, number three is to remember your eternity. One day every sickness will be healed. One day every wrong will be made right, and our souls will live the way that we were created to live all along. And, hallelujah for that. When we are hurting, grieving, struggling, aging, remember, death is not a dead end. It is a door to resurrection.”

46s

“And the same theme is found in the Psalms, and it's this ideal that the only way we can truly live without fear is to start with a place of what I'd call a healthy fear. Otherwise, our picture of God is much too small. To recognize that God is powerful and he is giving us our next breath, and he is holding this world together, and that might be scary the first time we recognize it. But then, when we recognize not only God's power, but that same power is for us, for you and I. It loves us, protects us. Then we understand the grace and beauty and strength we have offered to you and I.”

40s

“So, can we number our days? How can we live wisely and well in the moment we're in? I think first, do what Moses is doing. Ask God to help us see what we have been given. Every day is a blessing. And many of our friends and loved ones don't have that gift. I know I have lost plenty. So ask God for wisdom. As for those friends that I have lost, that we have lost, those loved ones that I will see again one day. In the meantime, live for them. I think the best way we could do that is to live for Christ.”

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