Being a Disciple Means Numbering Our Days
This was a devotional based on Psalm 90 written for our Young Adults’ Retreat. This psalm speaks of God’s sovereignty, and calls us to live in light of this reality. We share it here for our encouragement and meditation.
This psalm was written by Moses, likely during the time when Israel was wandering in the wilderness. The Israelites failed to trust in God, so He made them wander in the desert for 40 years, until all of the unbelieving generation had died (c.f. Numbers 14 for context).
In this psalm, Moses shows us the vast disparity between God and man - He is eternal, we are temporary; He is forever, we are fading (Ps 90:1-6). But worse than that, we are under His wrath because of our sin (Ps 90:7-8). Because sin has entered the world and our hearts, our years on this earth are full of trouble and end with a sigh (Ps 90:9-11).
Yet Moses has hope, not in himself, but in his covenant-keeping God. His cries for deliverance remind us that God promised to save His people, and Moses believes it (Ps 90:1, Ps 90:15). Even in the face of his own mortality, Moses remembers God’s promises, and calls on Him to keep them so that His glory would be displayed (Ps 90:16).
Have you considered your own mortality? Perhaps you have not thought about it before - that as surely as the sun rises, you will die. Your body will soon decay, and your earthly work, no matter how productive or meaningful or useful, will fade and wither. This might seem morbid, but realising our frailty and limited life (i.e. “numbering our days”) is what we need to do if we are to worship God rightly.
It causes us to be in awe of God, who unlike us, is everlasting and permanent (Ps 90:1-2). It causes us to repent as we consider how our sin has offended God, as well as ruined us and the world we live in (Ps 90:11-13). It causes us to look to the steadfast Lord for satisfaction, rather than the things of this world that will fade away (Ps 90:14).
Crucially, it causes us to turn to Christ, who is the only one who can save us from the death our sins deserve. When we cry out with Moses – “Return, O LORD! How long?” – we can look to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 where God promises that He will bring an end to our earthly pain and that those in Christ will be with Him forever. Christ alone provides the solution to the problem of death.
How am I labouring in the Lord? How is my life bearing eternal fruit?
Our mortality also causes us to realise that the only work that will last unto eternity is work that is established by the Lord (Ps 90:17). So by all means, work heartily in school and at your job, as Scripture commands. Yet as you do so, consider 1 Corinthians 15:58 – how am I labouring in the Lord? How is my life bearing eternal fruit?
A disciple of Christ is someone who numbers their days, and gives them to the Lord. How is God calling you to respond in the face of your sin and mortality?