Wisdom Grows When We Number Our Days

I recently attended my fortieth high school reunion an evening filled with memories, surprises, and reflections on the strange journey of life. It was surreal. Photos from the 1980s flashed across screens, capturing young faces now transformed by decades of gravity, grace, and the slow toll of time. Many of us are now older than our parents were on graduation day. Some of us are grandparents. All of us are rapidly moving toward the reality of aging that few truly expect or prepare for.

Life passes quickly and it’s harder than most of us anticipated.

And yet, Scripture invites us not to dread this truth, but to learn from it. In Psalm 90, Moses offers a prayer for the ages: “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). If we long to grow wise as we grow old, we must begin by reckoning honestly with how brief and burdensome this life can be.

Facing the Realities of Aging

Moses doesn’t soften the truth. He writes,

“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” (Psalm 90:10).

This is not pessimism. It is clarity. The brevity of life is not just a poetic idea; it is a divine reality. In a culture that idolizes youth and avoids talk of death, Moses calls us to consider our days with sober-minded wisdom.

Why? Because when we grasp the fleeting nature of life, we begin to see what really matters. We stop wasting time chasing mirages. We stop putting our hope in this world. And we begin storing up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:20).

Death Reminds Us of Judgment

In Psalm 90:3, Moses prays, “You return man to dust and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’” These words echo God’s pronouncement in Genesis 3:19 “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Death is not just the natural end of biological life; it is the appointed judgment on sin. Deep down, we all know it.

Even believers, secure in Christ, must wrestle with the dismay Moses expresses: “We are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed” (Psalm 90:7). We sense the weight of sin not just the sin around us, but the sin within us. And we feel its consequences every time a friend passes, every time our bodies ache, and every time we sigh at the struggles of life.

Hope Rooted in Redemption

But Psalm 90 doesn’t end in despair. Moses knew that the judgment of God wasn’t the end of the story. He prayed with hope, grounded in the covenant promises of God.

As New Testament believers, we know the fulfillment of that hope Jesus Christ. Through Him, we are no longer under wrath. Romans 8:1 declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We are not abandoned to the curse we are rescued through the cross.

Jesus endured wrath so we could experience grace. He tasted death so we could live eternally. His resurrection guarantees that our return to dust will not be our final chapter.

The Gospel Redeems Our Dismay

So why do we still suffer? Why do faithful Christians still grow old and die?

Because we live in the tension of the already and the not yet. Jesus has conquered sin and death, but we still live in fallen bodies, in a world groaning for redemption (Romans 8:20–23). But these very sorrows our aches, our aging, our funerals now serve a holy purpose: they stir our longing for heaven, sharpen our love for Christ, and teach us to number our days.

And like Moses, we must not skip over lament. Let the weight of mortality deepen your gratitude for eternal life. Let the frailty of your body heighten your joy in the coming resurrection. Let the loss of loved ones increase your urgency to share the gospel while it is still day.

Growing Old With Gospel Purpose

For many of us, the dreams of youth faded long ago. Life has not been easy. But through it all, God has been teaching us wisdom.

And that wisdom true, deep, God-centered wisdom is not bitter. It’s beautiful. It leads us to a hope that isn’t built on sentiment, but on a Savior. It teaches us to treasure what is lasting, to invest in eternity, and to rejoice in a joy no grave can touch.

So what can we do as the years pass?

• Reflect often on the brevity of life.

• Embrace the sorrows that teach us heaven is home.

• Cling to the promises of God’s unshakable Word.

• Keep sharing the hope of the gospel while we still can.

• And most of all, pray with Moses, “Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

Because in numbering our days, we discover the value of eternal ones.

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