At one time, I had an app on my phone to number my daily steps. Now, it’s not a matter of steps; it’s measured by time: “You need to walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week,” my doctor says. (Yeah, some days are better than others with that. I haven’t asked if walking to the refrigerator counted 😊)
I have also measured time by days: six days to have the following sermon ready, two weeks until the next paycheck, or six weeks until the next holiday. Each measurement—steps, minutes, or days—had a specific goal.
However, one goal, measured by days, resurfaced in one of my daily readings. Moses penned it in Psalm 90.
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (verse 12 KJV).
The Reese Chronological Bible places this Psalm between Numbers 14 and 15.[1] Moses’ prayer follows Israel’s lack of faith in listening to the ten spies rather than Joshua and Caleb to go and conquer the land.
As Moses opens his prayer with the goodness of God, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations” (v. 1), and continues lauding the Lord’s Omnipresence, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night” (v. 3) he lands on life as being pages of a day (verses 5-11).
And then the exhortation: Teach us.
Recall the context of Moses’ prayer, a costly error of unbelief with decades of consequences and a fresh defeat in trying to reverse the mistake through Israel’s efforts of going to war without God’s blessing.
I believe Moses was asking the Lord to teach them to see the “big picture” through the ups and downs of everyday life. Learn from the mistakes and embrace His goodness in both the good days and the bad— “O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (verse 14 KJV).
And then the goal: That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Bo, the Hebrew word translated as we may apply, “is used of garnering in the harvest.”[2] Thus, Moses is saying to use your experiences like a harvest crop. Bring the fruit into the storehouse of your heart so it is full of wisdom.
Be cognizant of both the season and the crop—and don’t let those experiences die in the field.
Numbering the days, I wonder if there is an app for that 😉
