Our Days Are Numbered – September 25, 2022
Psalm 90:1-12, II Corinthians 4:7-18
September 25, 2022
“Our days are numbered.” You’ve heard that expression before. And what does it usually mean when we use it? “Our days are numbered.” It means the end is near, doesn’t it? We use it when thinking about someone who has a terminal illness, or someone who is old and whose health is failing. We say, “They’re days are numbered.”
Well, what I’d like to talk to you about today is that “Our Days Are Numbered.” But I don’t mean it in quite the same way. I’m using this expression to say that, no matter how many days we’ve lived so far, we still only have a finite number of days, and that someday they will come to an end. And as we think about that, I want us to consider the words of the psalmist, which I just read. He said, “Teach us to number our days, that we may have a heart of wisdom.”
Our days are numbered, and that’s not meant to be a scary thing. Though it can be! Our mortality is serious business! But the way the psalmist says it here, it’s a recognition of our mortality. “The years of our lives are Threescore and ten,” he says, “or if by reason of strength – or if we have good genes – Fourscore.” Now, if you’re doing the math, that’s 75 or 80 years. And of course, some would say those numbers are low. Maybe we could adapt this passage to say, “The years of our lives are Fourscore and ten, or Five score.” But the point is, no matter how many “score” we have, our days are numbered. And the psalmist doesn’t want us to have fear because of that. He wants us to have wisdom!
That’s what it says here in Psalm 90. And in my Bible, the heading for this psalm says, “A prayer of Moses, the man of God.” And by the way, according to Deuteronomy 24, Moses was 120 years old when he died. That’s Six score! And yet, even his days were numbered. I asked Siri, the virtual assistant in my phone, and she said that Moses was born in 1393 BC, and he died in 1273 BC. I didn’t look into the research on that, but hey, Siri’s always right, isn’t she?
And speaking of women who know a lot, this is a follow-up to Kari’s wonderful sermon last week. (Thank you for that, Kari!) She really gave us a lot to think about in terms of the busy-ness of this life. And it reminded me of the words I read before a sermon of mine a few weeks ago. “Slow down and get closer to God.” Kari talked about how we don’t do that, and how we fill our days with so many things that we’re sure we have to do. And I would add to her thoughts today, saying that “our days are numbered,” anyway.
As we think about that, we might pause here and consider the story Jesus told about the man who had so much “stuff” that his barns were full, so he built bigger barns to hold it all. And then the Lord came to the man and said, “Today it’s all over. Your days are numbered and now they’re over. Now whose will all that “stuff” be?”
“Our days are numbered.” Now some people take that as a need for preparation. “Our days are numbered, so we’d better be sure we’re prepared for where we’re going when they’re over!” And I believe that’s true. And that’s important! But there’s another aspect of it that I’d like to talk about. And I believe this is part of what Kari said last week. “Our days are numbered so we’d better be sure we live them the best way we can. And we’d better seek to know what’s truly important while we’re here!”
I believe that’s a huge thing in God’s eyes! The Christian life is not about a lot of sacrifice and sorrow, and then you die and then there’s glory. But some people see it that way. And so they spend their lives making sure of their salvation, and thinking of little else. But sometimes it seems more like they’re constantly reminding themselves of it, as though their trust in God’s Grace is a little shaky.
I knew a man once who told people, often, the exact day and date of his salvation. He seemed to bring it up in every conversation about faith. And he expounded often on the heavenly glory that was coming his way some day. And it seemed to me that he didn’t give all that much thought about what came between those two things.
There have been other people who felt that way. For some, this life is all about sacrifice and sorrow and toil, as we await the “reward” for all of our suffering. I’ve heard that said about the slaves in this country. Their lives were all “trouble and sorrow,” and their faith tended to be focused on the “pie in the sky, by and by.”
There was a time when I thought that way. I believed that was what the Christian life was about. This life is just a “trial period.” It’s a time when we have troubles, but someday the perfect will come and we will see God “face to face.” We read those words of Paul a few weeks ago in I Corinthians 13.
Well, it was a wonderful thing in my life when I started to realize that the Christian life is not just about the trouble and sorrow here and Earth – with the Glory to come. The Christian life is about Glory here on earth. I’ve pointed out a number of times that Jesus himself said, “I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly!” You may remember me saying how the writings of John Eldredge really brought that home to me! God wants us to know joy! He wants us to be fulfilled in this amazing thing called life! And he wants us to know his glory in the here and now!
That’s what I believe the psalmist is saying. God wants us to have that kind of wisdom about this life. He wants us to know the precious, invaluable nature of this life, and he wants us to live this life to the fullest. I truly believe that! And yet it’s too easy to forget. It’s too easy to find ourselves in the state of mind that Kari described last week, a state of mind where we are frantic, and we are too busy to give much thought and time to others. A state of mind where we give little thought and time to God’s kingdom and the life he wants for us.
One of my favorite writings of C. S. Lewis was a little lesser-known book entitled “The Great Divorce.” And no, it’s not a book about divorce, as in marital status. It is a book about the divorce between Heaven and Hell. It’s an allegory, with a lot of symbolism. And the premise of the book is that people in Hell are able to take a bus trip to Heaven. It’s a very interesting idea, and in it Lewis gives some fascinating insight. But near the end, he said, “For those who end up in Hell, it’s been Hell all along. But for those who end up in Heaven, it’s been Heaven all along.”
So, is it for you “heaven all along?” And I don’t mean, “Have you always been happy, and have you avoided all pain and sorrow.” But do you seek the glory of God? Do you seek to have that “heart of wisdom?” Do you seek to have a heavenly perspective on this life, to know what’s truly important, and to seek the joy God wants for you.
Lewis says this at the end. “All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. But no soul that seriously and consistently desires joy will ever miss it! Those who seek, find. To those who knock, it is open.”
I’d like to close today with Paul’s words that I read a little while ago. This is from II Corinthians 4. He says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Because we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, that is, they are temporary. But the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Yes, our days are numbered. But not really! Our days in this life are numbered. But our days in God’s kingdom are eternal, and trick is to see that we’re in that eternity already!
Prayer
Eternal and ever blessed God, help us indeed to see your perspective on this life. Help us to live the abundant life you would have for us, no matter what the circumstances. Help us to seek your kingdom, and your glory, every day of this life. And to you be the glory, honor, and praise, now and forever. Amen.