So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12
Tempus fugit is Latin for “time flies.” Another Latin phrase popularized in the 1989 film Dead Poet’s Society is carpe diem, meaning “seize the day.” In light of the briefness of time, the two together suggest you should make the most of today, for there is no guarantee of tomorrow.
In March 2024, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, life expectancy in the United States was 77.5 years. Projections by the United Nations place it at 79.25 years. Whichever is more accurate, the fact is that a limited number has been assigned to you. Billy Graham once wrote, “The Bible has much to say about the brevity of life… There is for each man a day, an hour, a minute.” In Ephesians 5:16, the Apostle Paul urged you to make “the best use of the time.” The psalmist wrote, “My days are like an evening shadow, I wither away like grass” (Psalm 102:11).
Indeed, the older one becomes, the more quickly the days fly by. In “numbering your days,” the goal is not to just let one day drift into another but to seize each moment. Use the time to gain wisdom and continue to cultivate a tender heart toward the things of the Lord. Be an active Christian, quick to respond when opportunities to serve Him are placed in your path. Allow God to work in and through the gifts He has placed in you. Just as He did when He fed the five thousand, Jesus can take the smallest of your efforts and multiply them beyond your wildest dreams—the key is to give your day and all that is in it to Him.
Today’s Verse: Psalm 90:12
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Psalm 90:9-17
For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 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.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
