Teach us to number our days.
Moses' prayer for wisdom about how short life really is.
The episode in a glance.
- 01Moses wrote Psalm 90 — the oldest psalm.
- 02Life is short — a sigh, grass that withers.
- 03Numbering days is about awareness, not anxiety.
- 04The result is a heart of wisdom.
Read along.
Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm in the Bible — attributed to Moses. He's lived through the wilderness wandering, watched a whole generation die in the desert, and writes: 'So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.'
Moses doesn't pull punches about life's length. Earlier in the psalm: our days are like grass that withers in the evening, like a sigh.
'Teach us to number our days.' Not because life is meaningless. Because life is short, and short things are precious. Numbering days isn't anxiety. It's awareness.
When you know there are only so many of them, you stop spending them on things that don't matter. You start spending them on the things that do — relationships, faithfulness, presence, love.
'That we may get a heart of wisdom.' Wisdom is the fruit. Knowing your days are limited is how you finally learn to use them well.