Numbering Our Days
By Pastor Julie Hawkins
Pastor of Ministry
Every morning when I wake up, the very first thing that I do is read a psalm. I started this practice a few years back after being challenged to engage Scripture before scrolling. Confession time: many mornings, that psalm read isn’t ingested through the bleary lens of my 4:45 am alarm. Usually, I return to God’s Word later in the day when I am more alert for a more robust study. Many mornings, my early morning read is a quick hurdle on my way to scrolling through the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal… or my Instagram feed. Jesus is working on me.
This week, my tired eyes read Psalm 90, a psalm that is largely about how God is everlasting, and we are not. It’s about the brevity of life. That psalm stuck with me throughout my day. It might be because I recently lost a friend who was my same age to an inexplicable and sudden sickness. But throughout my day, Psalm 90:12 rattled around in my ribcage so much so that I looked it up in five different translations:
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom. (ESV)
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (NIV)
Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom. (NLT)
So teach us to consider our mortality,
so that we might live wisely. (NET)
Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts. (CSB)
I was struck by the reality that numbering our days, being aware that our time on earth is but a walking shadow, is one of the ways that we become wise.
In my stage of life, it is easy for the days to string together. This stage of life and this time of year can feel a bit like a treadmill. Get to the gym, get home, get ready, get lunches made, get kids to school, get to work, get home from work, get dinner made, get kids to activities, get ready for bed, get to sleep, and get going all over again. Even sitting here typing this, I had to look up in the right-hand corner of my screen to remind myself what day of the week it is today.
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
That verse is sobering. But it’s also savory. There is a bit of victory in pausing to think about each day as a day that I get to live out my calling as a wife, mother, pastor, daughter, sister, friend. It helps me savor those ordinary moments, knowing that each day is one of those number of days. I would also argue that in recognizing the ordinary it helps us remember the extraordinary, like little staccato notes throughout our days.
As this verse came up throughout my day, I found myself reflecting on how this treadmill life is marked by special moments, like sitting around a campfire with a group of pastors last week on a retreat in Idaho and being wowed by the number of stars about us. Or watching the community of friends who stay until the very last runner, who happens to be my daughter, crosses the finish line at the cross country meet each week. Or hosting a friend who made the long journey from Central Asia to Sacramento as a refugee and is sitting at my table for dinner tonight.
These moments remind us of our everlasting God who satisfies us with his steadfast love, and brings us daily joys, who shows his work through us his children, and has his hand upon us each day of our lives.
My hope for you today is that you take the time and pause and remember that this is a day that God created, and that he created you, and that he created you to live this day in this place at this time. My prayer is that in doing that, you will notice what is around you, be it the beauty of leaves falling, or the laughter of your kids, or the sacred space of a moment of rest. My prayer is that all of this will point your attention to our everlasting God.
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Pastor Julie