A Wise Heart for a New Year

Psalm 90 prays: “Teach me to count my days that I may gain a wise heart.”

What is it about counting our days that gives us a wise heart? Well, let’s think about the other side of that for a moment. What if we went through life, living as though we have forever?

We’d put stuff off. We’d hold grudges. We’d get caught up in the trivial and lose sight of what truly gives meaning.  In our younger years, often we are too “busy” to spend time with the ones we care about.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve known over the years who were too busy in their 30’s to spend time with friends, only to wake up in their 50s to find they have no friends left. Then, I think about the parent at the park taking care of business on his iPhone while his children run around playing and laughing. It’s that same parent, when you fast-forward through time, who wants those precious moments back.

The writer Brian Koppelman makes the point that: “If you look at the great expanse of time, we’re not even a dot.… And if you walk through life with the knowledge that one day, everything we love will be here no more, for me, it makes me love harder… more fiercely. And it makes me want to be more expansive, more giving, and more connected. It makes me aware of how fortunate I am to be present in this moment…”

I think this psalmist had a pastor’s heart. Teach us to count our days, that we may gain a wise heart…

Let us pray: Eternal God, before whom generations rise and fall, as we sit on the edge of this new year, I pray with the psalmist that you would teach me to count my days… Teach me to count my days that my perspective might be restored… Teach me to count my days, that I might be reminded again of those things that bring deeper richer meaning to life. Teach me to count my days that I might remember who I am – and who’s I am – in the grand scope of eternity. Teach me to count my days that I might be more truly grateful for the gift of the time I have left.  Teach me – teach us – to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. We ask in Christ’s name. Amen.