Psalm 90 ~ teach us to number our days

Psalm 90 ~ A Prayer of Moses

David Cochran, English Standard Version

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place ^{[our refuge]}
in all generations.
² Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³ You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
⁴ For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

⁵ You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
⁶ in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.

⁷ For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹ 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 ^[pride] 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 ^[beauty] of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalm 90 - failure and success, work with, without blessing and the passage of time. - Sometimes success can be empty. When we sit down to do a job, a career, do we picture ourselves leaving decades later - wondering if this is all there is.

Ebenezer Scrooge is an unusual name. Ebenezer is a Hebrew male given name meaning "Stone of the Help." Meaning Helper, another name of the Holy Spirit.

The tone of Psalm 90 would fit "A Christmas Carol" very well. Yet it is a prayer of Moses. Moses who saw Great Worldly Success and had it swept away in spiritual questioning of his own identity. Moses saw World Class Miracles and saw the entire nation of Israel witness all of these amazing acts of God - and saw them disregarded in the day-to-day ingratitude and selfish concerns.

The highs of life - don't remain good without gratitude. The Midas touch, where all turned to gold, was actually a burden - a curse. The people surrounding Midas were all about the gold.

If Charles Dickens had written "Christmas Carol" from the Bob Cratchit viewpoint, it might make another movie. Mrs. Cratchit would have angst for giving up her career to look after a special needs child. Bob Cratchit would have angst being the TV dad of his family - like Homer Simpson. Tiny Tim would have bullying. The Siblings - the angst of not being at the top of the heap financially. The answer is the same.

Lows of life overpower us without the gratitude for the promises of God. Without the faith to believe our lives have meaning. The hope God's promises are for this life. The Love we have to draw from ourselves instead of sinking into the "winning' mentality of taking, taking, taking.

Father God, renew us each day - let us, in hope, see the blessings you give us each day. Let us be mindful of the blessings you provide. Like My Aunt Eloise's Old English Prayer - Lord - I will be veree busy this day. Do not forget me. As I am likely to forget thee.

Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

Help us not to be the Children of Israel - disregarding the blessings of our lives for profit, for idle boredom, with small results instead of the glories You've given us each day. In the Highest Name of all. Jesus. Amen.

"Many laughed to see this alteration in him, but he let them laugh and little heeded them, for he knew that no good thing in this world ever happened, at which some did not have their fill of laughter. His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge."

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