Psalm 90:12-17 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 90:12-17 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.
Verse 13Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
Verse 14Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Verse 15Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.
Verse 16Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.
Verse 17Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands- O prosper the work of our hands!
Devotion
One of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 90, expresses wisdom common to humanity since our earliest days: Life is short; when we are done, what will we leave behind? Life is hard; what does it mean? Such questions have been uttered from every corner of the globe. The contribution of the Hebrew psalmist was to recognize that whatever legacy we leave behind, whatever meaning we mine from our suffering, whatever glory our lives may show – all depends upon God.
Once, when someone called Jesus “good teacher,” he corrected them: Only God is good. And, it is from God that our rejoicing, our good work and the very meaning of our lives come. All good things flow from the bountiful, limitless Lord of life. The grace of God is incarnate in that river of goodness; the psalmist calls us to draw from that river and drink deeply, giving thanks.
Prayer
Teach us, God, for your sake, to make the most of each moment you give us. Amen.