Sabbath Rest in a Restless WorldSample

Gaining a Wise Heart

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (v. 12)

Four thousand weeks. This is the amount of time human beings, on average, have on this earth (about 80 years). Some of us will get a bit more, others of us will get less. It’s no wonder we push so hard to get the most out of the limited time we have.

Psalm 90 is a prayer written by Moses, and here is the key verse: “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart” (v. 12 NRSV). Moses is doing more than asking God to help us add up the span of our lives. He’s instructing us to embrace our mortality and shift the way we relate to time. Rather than treating time as a commodity or something to “manage,” Moses calls us to receive each day as a gift.

Clocks were first invented in the monastery as a way to call monks into set times of community prayer. Clocks also helped them be more fully present to God and each other throughout the rest of their day. How ironic! Now our clocks and cell phones make us both time-conscious (instead of God-conscious) and perpetually distracted.

Try this today: Do only one thing at a time (multitasking is a myth anyway). Rather than thinking about the next thing, just be in each moment. Receive time as a gift. And watch your heart grow in wisdom.

As you pray, give God thanks for the gift of today and ask him to help you be fully present in each moment.