I would ask you again this evening, as this morning, to open your Bibles, please, to those two Psalms that we looked at, Psalm 39 and Psalm 90. Psalm 39, and then the 90th Psalm. Now, if you were terribly afflicted, troubled, maybe by severe sickness or enemies about, what would you pray? What would be a priority in your praying, even as perhaps what would first come to mind? If you were Moses in the wilderness with that rebellious, unbelieving people, and you're seeing death all around you as God's wrath comes upon that people, what would you especially request of God? Well, both of these questions have their answers in Psalm 39 and 90, as far as the right answers go, because both David and Moses prayed much the same in their respective circumstances. Notice again, verse four of Psalm 39. Lord, make me to know my end. And what is the measure of my days that I may know how frail I am? And then those words there in Psalm 90 and the 12th verse where Moses then prays, so teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Different words. but the same basic request. And so in Psalm 39, in his affliction, whatever it was, David wanted God to really make him know of his own death. My end, and not simply when it would be, but to really know the certainty that it would be. In other words, that he should have a great awareness of his own end, and with that, that God would greatly impress upon him what he calls the measure of my days, how many or how few they are, even how fleeting this life is as he goes on to speak in verses 5 and 6 there when he speaks of my days are hand-breadth, all of them together, very short measure. In fact, they're like a vapor. It's a shadow. It's something that makes no lasting impact. It's here and very short-lived. That's my days. And from his words now when he's describing the brevity of life in verses 5 and 6, clearly he understood this fact. Life is brief, death is sure. And yet he's praying that God would make him to truly know this in the inner man in a very practical way there in the midst of his affliction, that he might have this mindfulness of the brevity of life, the certainty of death, as such a way as to govern his thoughts and direct his steps at that time. Well, Moses prayed his prayer in very, very different circumstances than those of David in Psalm 39. The children of Israel, as we've seen, they were provoking God in the wilderness by their sin, their rebellion, their unbelief, and God's wrath was regularly coming upon that people for their sins, various times, various ways, until most of that whole generation that God had delivered from Egypt, then died there in the wilderness. We saw that this morning from Jude 5. Well, this prayer of Moses in Psalm 90, it predates the end of that generation, the dying off of the majority of them. And maybe it was after, though, their refusal to enter in to the promised land. Remember, they're unbelieved. No, we can't do it. They're bigger than us, et cetera. And God said, well, because of that, then your corpses will fall here. And that generation that you said would perish, no, they're the ones that will go in to that land. Well, this was again an expression of God's wrath. But whenever it was, Moses here asked God himself to teach him and also them, the people still alive, to number their days, to count their days, but not simply how many there are, but as one commentator has put it, to appreciate the shortness of our days, to mark how quickly they pass, to recognize that we've only a limited number of days in this world, even if we're given 70 or 80 years, he says here. To be mindful of the certainty of our end, that death is appointed, Job 14.5, even the day of our death. is appointed, and even how fragile life is, that it can end quickly and quite unexpectedly, we don't know what a day will bring forth, and that includes our dying day. And so Moses here praying to really appreciate all of this practically. Even to be very mindful of what he himself says here about the brevity of life when he speaks of we're like people carried away in a flood. The following year just washes off the scene as it were. Or he speaks again of our being like asleep, it's just quickly gone or perhaps it's a dream, it's just gone with the opening of the day as the hymn writer put it. He likens us to that well-known figure of grass or a flower that flourishes for a time, the heat comes up though and it's gone, it's cut off. Very graphic, very powerful images all to drive home just how quickly we're passed off the scene and how certain is our end and Moses prayed that God would teach this. that God would greatly impress this on the minds and hearts not only of Moses, him too, but even of those unbelieving Israelites, the children of Israel there in the wilderness. Now why would these godly men, Moses and David, pray this way? Why would they ask for this? in particular? Well, we noted for one thing, it's very telling about them and about us, about mankind generally, and even the Lord's people, and that is we too easily fail to number our days. Though it's obvious that life is short and death is sure, nobody's going to deny that, yet we seem to ignore the obvious. In our thinking, we live as if we're not going to die, or if We had all the time in the world, or we're thinking only in terms of the present, what is before us at any given time. We noted several reasons for that, why we fail to live in light of life's brevity and death certainty. I'll not now review those. But such is our case. Our failing to number our days and think aright about the passing of time and the end of our time. that we must have divine intervention to actually teach us, to make us to know the end of our days and the measure of them. And that's why both Moses and David prayed in this way, especially because it's so needful that we should live with a mindfulness of times passing and ending. needful that we might avoid many ills from not living in light of the obvious, a wasted life, die unprepared. But more than that, we can see in both of these Psalms that Moses and David had in view great benefit from numbering our days, from living with that mindfulness of which we've spoken. In other words, there's something here very desirable. so much so that it makes it a priority in their praying. I pointed out this morning, David, he's not praying, he's not talking about anything. He doesn't want to speak ill of God so he won't even speak good. He's got his mouth shut until finally he kind of explodes. And when he does explode, at least he explodes before God. He talks to God. He prays. But when he finally breaks out in praying, he doesn't first ask, Lord, deliver me, restore my health, or get me out of the jam that I'm in. Instead, it's this petition that we're looking at, make me know my end, the measure of my days. Well, this is our present focus. Benefits from knowing our end, measuring our days, et cetera. And firstly, we're going to look at Psalm 90 and verse 12, where you notice when Moses prayed this way for God to instruct them, it was that we may gain a heart of wisdom. The very word gain is actually used more than once in the Old Testament of reaping or gathering in for a harvest. So it's the idea of that we may reap the benefit of numbering our days. To quote the commentator Peron, a wise heart is the fruit which we are to gather from this divine instruction. And since out of the heart come the issues of life, obviously, It's our thoughts, our desires, our affections, our conduct, all experiencing good effect from this kind of wisdom. Now, you would understand that when he says being wise, the wisdom he has in view here, it's not that kind of speculative, theoretical wisdom of the philosophers, but it's like that in the book of Proverbs, right? You're familiar with the wisdom there, how very practical it is. to know how to live generally, even to be blessed in all that we do. So you've got Solomon saying that, look, this wisdom is better than gold. Anything you have, it cannot be compared with this for its worth, its ways are pleasantness, its paths are peace. Therefore, in all you're getting, make sure you get this. Wisdom is the principal thing. Get that. Well, that's the wisdom that Moses here has in view when he says that we may gain a heart of wisdom. That numbering our days will direct how we're to think and how we're to live, being mindful of how few, of how quickly they pass, et cetera. And consider a number of ways that it does that. That numbering of our days will promote that which is the beginning of wisdom, that essential element of wisdom. You recall Proverbs 9, 10, the beginning of wisdom, The ABC of wisdom is the fear of God. And then he gives a parallel statement and the knowledge of the Holy One. is understanding, showing that the fear of God and knowledge of the Holy One are one and the same, they're parallel, they're synonymous. In other words, what the fear of God is, it's not that trembling, quaking fear, but when it's used of us, the Lord's people especially, it's synonymous with true religion, but what it means is a high and right regard for God. And what Proverbs 9.10 says, this, that reverence, that awe, that high and right regard for God, that's the beginning. That's the ABCs, that's the essential part of wisdom. If we're to understand life and everything about life, well you need that wisdom that is the fear of God to see all of life in light of him. And Moses says we want you to teach us to number our days, to see our brevity, so it will promote that wisdom that we will gain, we will reap the harvest of a wise heart. And that especially when we see God in contrast to ourselves or see ourselves in light of God. Remember, fear of the Lord is a high and right regard for God. It's in the numbering of our days that we really can appreciate, that we see the infinity of God. And that's exactly what Moses underscores, notice in Psalm 90. We've seen what he says in verses five and six. We're carried along like a flood, we're like a sleep, grass that grows and is cut down. But notice that comes in contrast to what he's just said about God. Pick up at verse two, for instance. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You turn man to destruction. He comes to nothing. Verse four, for a thousand years in your sight is like yesterday when it's passed, like a watch in the night. What's time in eternity? What's time with God? And then he says, and here's man, he's just a creature of time, he's a vapor, he's just passing off the scene, his grass is cut down, and so forth. He's seeing the infinite difference between our God and us, how finite and weak and passing we all are. Teach us to number our days. In light of your everlastingness, your eternity, let us see ourselves as the finite creatures we are. That is where the heart of wisdom will come from. That is the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of the Holy One. Well, do you ever number your days? Do you ever see yourself and how finite, how limited, and how passing your time is, and then stop and think about, but here's God. Time has no effect on him. He dwells outside the bounds of time. The God who created time. Do you contemplate his eternality? And then see yourself in light of that? That's what Moses is here talking about, isn't it? And what's the result? Awe? Humility? Feeling our smallness, this God so great? Yeah, maybe you've heard some of the analogies that are hard to really capture the reality of it, but we're talking about eternity. I remember hearing somebody say if one bird could get one grain of sand off of the beach, And that bird somehow was able to fly all the way to the sun and deposit that one grain of sand and then come back and get another grain of sand and take that grain all the way to the sun. By the time that every grain of sand on every beach in this world was removed, it would have made no dent in eternity. Right? Well, maybe that's not the best illustration, but it stuck in my mind. Maybe it'll stick in all of our minds. The fear of God is seeing God aright. And by numbering our days, look how my time passes so quickly. Here today, gone tomorrow. But Lord, you are from everlasting to everlasting. Time takes no toll on you. What a great, glorious God he is. Here's a heart of wisdom. Here's the beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord, how great. Notice this in Psalm 144. Please turn there, the 144th Psalm. Here's how we can begin to view life correctly, the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 144, start at verse three. Lord, what is man that you take knowledge of him? Or the son of man that you're mindful of him? Man is like a breath. His days are like a passing shadow, not substantial at all, just a breath and it's gone. A shadow here for a while makes no lasting impact. That's man. And then he sees God in contrast. And he says, what is man that you would even pay attention to him? A God so great, a God so worthy of worship, such contrast with man in his passing. but not only reason for worship, reason for gratitude, that this great God would indeed take knowledge of us and do us good. You remember how the psalmist puts it in Psalm 113? Here's a God none like him, so great that he must humble himself to behold the things that are done, not only on earth, but in the heavens. It's a condescending for him even to pay attention to what goes on in the world, even what goes on in the heavens. And yet the psalmist there in Psalm 113 says, but look, he takes this one who's without a family and he gives them family and he gives them, and he shows mercy to those who are. Isaiah 57, 15. He is described as one who inhabits eternity. What does that mean? Well, again, as I've already said it, that means he dwells outside the bounds of time. You know, God can't be measured. He's the creator. So there's no length and breadth and width and so forth, right? Well, in the same way, time is a measurement. in his creation, but God himself dwells outside the bounds of time. That's why that hymn that we just sang about everything is ever present to him, trying to wrap your mind around that one, right? But the point is, he inhabits eternity. And yet that same verse, God himself shows, and he dwells with those who are of a contrite and humble spirit. What condescension? This God so great, outside the bounds of time, and yet he comes to dwell with his contrite and humble people. More than that, of course, the one who ever had his being in the form of God would take to himself true humanity and inhabit time in the person of his son, even to suffer and die that criminal's death on the cross to save sinners like us. What great and glorious God, and as we number our days, it should impress upon us all the more, as Psalm 144, his infinite condescension. A God so great, and here I am, I'm just a mere breath. I'm just a passing shadow. I mean, I dare say that when you're out and about on a sunny day and see a shadow passing, it doesn't make much impression on you. Oh, look at there. Even if you see your breath on a nippy day outside, it's cold, you see your breath, it doesn't, whoa, look at that, my breath, where'd it go? Right, it doesn't make any great lasting impression on you. Well, that's something of the analogy that's being used here. This is what man is. And yet you and your infinite greatness condescend to acknowledge more. to do us good, even to come in the person of your son to redeem sinners like us. Lord, teach us to number our days that we might see not only how small and weak are we, but how great and glorious you are. That's the fear of the Lord. Well, can you appreciate then, especially in light of the Israelites and their rebellion, why Moses would pray this? He sees their ways, their wickedness, their pride, their constant rebellion, their murmuring against God, how they would replace Him with an idol. They refuse to trust Him. The great sins they're committing constantly against God, a stiff-necked people deserving God's wrath and getting God's wrath, many of them dying all around. And there Moses prays, Lord, teach us to number our days to see how small and insignificant we really are in light of your infinity. Here's what is needed, a wise heart, the fear of the Lord. cause us to number our days that we might live aright. Even God himself had said in Deuteronomy 32, 29, oh, that they were wise that they would consider their latter in. Think of your end and see God in that light. Well, as for them, so with us, brethren. Whatever we face. In all our day-to-day routine, see your latter in. See your very finite being. Mindful of your ways. Mindful that we're just passing shadows. And see it in light of him who from everlasting to everlasting is God who dwells outside the bounds of time. Really see yourself in that light and then gather a rich harvest of wisdom in the heart by numbering your days. And all you're getting Get wisdom. Well, here's one way to do it. May God help us. That's one benefit. Fear of God's a good benefit, isn't it? But then secondly, recognizing our days are numbered should also give us wisdom in living in light of our end. The days, our days in this world Relatively few? Pass quickly? Well, they certainly have an end. If the Lord tarries, everyone in this room, without exception, if the Lord tarries, will die. Young person, you. I'm just a kid. If the Lord tarries, even if you have 70, 80, or 100 years, you will die. But how few really think that way. But isn't it wise to recognize this? I've got an expiration date. Notice this in Ecclesiastes chapter seven. Ecclesiastes in the seventh chapter. Notice beginning at verse 2. Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men and the living will take it to heart. The house of mourning would be the equivalent of going to a wake, a visitation, viewing, whatever you'd call it there at the funeral home. It would include, of course, the idea of funeral. But here, you've gone to this house of mourning. You're reminded of a death. Someone has died. It says, but the living will take it to heart. Verse three, sorrow is better than laughter. For by a sad countenance, the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. What are you saying? Recognizing that that person is there in that casket, if the Lord tarries, that will be me someday. My body is going to be laid out. You see that house of mourning, the people grieving over the loss of a loved one? If the Lord tarries, my loved ones will grieve my passing. It's better to go to the house of mourning now and recognize, this is my end, that we might take it to heart and thereby have a heart, gain a heart of wisdom. He goes on to say in chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes that though death is the end of life in this present world, that's not our end. The body goes to the ground, the spirit returns to God who gave it. And that means that every one of us, Every one of us will spend eternity somewhere. Every one of us. You die physically, but that's not the end. And there are only two options in eternity. In Matthew 26, sorry, Matthew 25 and verse 46, the Lord Jesus talked about some going to everlasting blessedness and others going to everlasting punishment. Only two options. Well, now's the time for prayer, isn't it? To recognize I have an end. And this reminder of the death of another person laid out there at the house of mourning, well, it should cause me to take it to heart. This is where I'm going. Here is where to have a harvest of wisdom, to live in light of my own end. But of course, we don't need to wait to a funeral. I made reference to it earlier today. Every cemetery. Every obituary, every hearse. Your days are numbered, right? Your days are numbered. Well, are you numbering those days? Are you living with an awareness of that end? And are you ready for your dying day? Are you ready for your dying day? If you're without Jesus Christ, if he has not saved you, no, you are not ready. And as death takes you, so judgment will find you. It's appointed on men who must die after this next thing on the horizon, judgment day. Well, are you ready for judgment day? The unsaved, when they die, they're held in punishment, 2 Peter 2, 9, until the day of judgment, when they are resurrected, body and spirit reunited, and they stand before the judge, Christ the judge. And there they hear him say, depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And that's why Paul would preach as he did, that's why God would command as he does. In Acts 17, I referred to it earlier today. God commands all men everywhere to repent, to turn from your sin to God through Jesus Christ, looking only to Christ. Because he's appointed a day in which he's going to judge the whole world in righteousness by that man that he has ordained, Jesus Christ, the judge. Well, isn't it right that we should number our days to have a heart, to gain a heart of wisdom? If you're without Christ, be wise, recognizing Your days are limited, and don't wait now for another day. Today is the day of salvation. Christ is set before you. Believe on the Lord Jesus. You will be saved. Now Christian, by God's grace in Christ, we are ready for our dying day. We are as ready for our dying day as was the Apostle Paul when he said to depart and be with Christ is far better to be absent from the body, present with the Lord. And then, Whenever that intermediate state ends, when Christ comes, our bodies are raised, and we get bodies likened unto his glorious body, suited to be joint heirs together with Christ forever. Will God be praised? But still, we're to live in light of that and for that day, right? The scripture talks about our looking for that blessed hope and glory superior, of our eagerly waiting for that day. Well, brother, we do well to number our days, to mark their passing now, to live in light of, ah, but wait, here's what's before me. And Paul argues this way in Romans 13 when he says, you know what, your salvation, your fullness of that salvation is nearer now than it was when you first believed. And maybe you believed on Christ, were saved by the Lord decades ago. Well, your eternal blessedness is nearer now than it was then. And it's getting nearer. You're on a countdown here, right? And Paul's whole point is now live in light of that, especially in how we live. Well, my God grant that we will number our days to gain that heart of wisdom, knowing that this is what's before us. But then also, recognition of life's brevity and death certainty should then make us wise in our use of our days. If I might draw out an analogy, think of our limited days in terms of financial resources, limited financial resources. You've only got so much. There might be many things you need, many things you'd like to purchase, many things you'd want to enjoy. your hard-earned cash. But after all, you're limited. You've only got X amount. Well, we all live there, right? How careful are you? How careful should you be? I mean, if you've only got X amount, and there's so much that you need and want, well, you're gonna have to spend it wisely, right? And sadly, of course, many are unwise with their money. They waste it, and they go in debt, and they have nothing. Well, when it comes to our days, you can't go in debt there. When they're gone, they're gone, and that's the end. But what should we do in the meantime? since we have only a few days and they pass quickly. I mean, when you look at your money and you got only a little bit and it goes out fast, it makes you want to be careful what you do with it. Okay, well, what about your days and how you spend them? And they pass so quickly. Shouldn't that cause us to have to gain a heart? of wisdom, to be wise in the use of our days as, again, Ecclesiastes 9, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might because you're coming to the grave and it's too late then. Do what you do now in light of that. Number your days, be wise, and spend the days wisely. When they're all gone, what will we want to hear? When we come to our Savior, Won't we want to hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant? Shouldn't living in light of the end make us now good stewards of those days that he gives us in this world? Numbering our days should keep us from procrastinating, for one thing, right? We don't know what a day will bring forth. We must do what we need to do. what we're commanded to do now. But it should also keep us from losing days. I mean, how right to ask ourselves, do I really have time to waste? Do I really have time? I've got so little of it, do I really have time to waste? And doesn't counting the days cause us to want to make the days count? I want my days to count in this world. to see ourselves as stewards, a stewardship of them, to do, as we're told, like in Ephesians, to redeem the time, the days are evil, buy up the time, to live now for what really matters, and to live for eternity now, to glorify God in Christ now. Missionary C.T. Studd, maybe you've heard that little sonnet of a thing he did, Only One Life, it will soon be past. And only what's done for Christ will last. Lord, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Well, that's something of the wisdom we need that is a benefit. And you can understand then why Moses would pray as he did. But now coming again to Psalm 39, the benefit that David envisioned was this. When there, he's saying, make me to know my end and the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. The word frail could be translated fleeting. The New American Standard translates it transient. In actual fact, you could translate it how ceasing I am. That is to say, I'm so very prone to ceasing I'm ever in the act of ceasing from this world day by day. Well, all that's, of course, included in this English translation of the New King James frail. We're frail, fragile. Life in this world, life in these bodies, it wears away and vanishes again. He goes on to say, verse five, like a vapor, it seems as intangible, it dissipates away to nothing. Or that shadow that is not substantial and soon gone. Or Psalm 103, we're like this flower that it may flourish, but then it's frail and ceasing. Well, that's the case with us. That's the case with our life in this world. And as we've seen, David's really praying to know this, for this to be real in his thinking, as a desired benefit, that I may know how frail I am, how ceasing I am. I made reference to it in passing this morning, but it bears repeating. There's actually comfort in this. I mean, especially in the midst of hardship and suffering, like sickness, especially if it's some terminal illness, or maybe it's other griefs, to be conscious of the fact that whatever it is, it's not forever. I may pass through this valley of the shadow of death, but I'm going to pass through it. Use the language of Scripture, joy comes in the morning. or to use the language of 1 Peter 1.6, you're grieved now for a little while, if need be. It's only a little while, and it's only if need be. Well, certainly to be mindful of that, this is temporary. Even if it lasts for my 70 to 80 years, it's temporary. To be mindful of that is a great benefit. I said this morning that some look at David's words here in Psalm 39 as if he's impatient under suffering. How long is this gonna go on? Make me know how. Well, if he was impatient, certainly this was a fitting prayer. Make me to know. Because doesn't that aid our patience and our forbearance? You know, even James chapter five was talking about the wicked oppressing the Lord's people. And James says, be patient, be patient. The Lord's gonna sort it out. He's coming, he'll sort it out. Knowing that there's an end to this, you can afford to be patient. Well, so too with David, whether it was enemies about him, or whether it was from some physical affliction, Lord, make me see it in this light. It has an end and is passing quickly. Help me to see the bigger picture, especially compared to eternity, these fleeting days. And maybe when David prays, make me to know my end, he's not only thinking in terms of his dying day, but forever after. Though this life ends, as we said, we don't end. Was David thinking of his life afterwards, viewing that? Certainly reason for patience, or what he says here in verse 7, how his hope is in the Lord, and then seeking God's mercy in the meantime as he does. Verse 13, to regain his strength. Not infrequently in the Psalms we find those words, how long? I think John Calvin used to use those words as well. How long, Lord? How long? Well, we don't know how long, but we know one thing. Whatever the grief, whatever the trials, they're not forever. And even in the meantime, Psalm 136, that starts how long, God deals bountifully with us. All these things that we encounter, they're for our good, for our blessedness forever, and we are fully conformed to the image of Christ, and he's the firstborn among many brethren and were glorified together with him. How right to pray, Lord, make me to know my end. There's comfort. But our transient nature is also an argument for submission. We saw that this morning. I looked at James chapter four. Come now, you who say, I'm gonna go to such and such city. We're gonna trade for about a year or so. We're gonna make a lot of money. We're gonna do very, very well. To know where you ought to say, if the Lord wills we're going to do that, but before he gets to that part, remember he says, what is your life? Come on, it's a vapor. It's here, it's vanishing quickly. It's uncertain. You don't know that you're going to live for another year. How dare you? Well, the idea is the recognition that your life is a vanishing vapor should cause humility. It should bring about the recognition of God's sovereignty and our submission to him and our utter dependence upon him. And you can see how that would fit with what David is here praying, how that would be a great benefit to him in whatever it was that he was suffering. We've seen from verse 9 in Psalm 39, I've kept silent, I'm mute, I'm not complaining, because Lord, you're the one who's done this. This has come to me in your providence." Well, was it in seeing how weak he was, how frail he was, that he was then aided to humbly submit? Lord, it's you, I dare not murmur, who am I? I think I read it this morning, but I quote it again from the commentator Peron, make me rightly to know and estimate the shortness and uncertainty of human life, that so instead of allowing myself to be perplexed by what I see around me, I may cast myself the more entirely upon thee. And as we see, that's exactly what David did here. Lord, please grant me mercy. He sees I'm frail, I'm weak, but whom I to grumble, and therefore, Lord, have mercy upon me. Perhaps at this point in his life, he was also mindful of what he wrote earlier. He wanted to know how frail he was. Psalm 103, he says, God knows how frail I am. Lord, you know our frame. We're just dust. He goes on to say, you know, like that grass, like that flower that's flourishing, but it's soon gone. Lord, you know, that's our frame. Psalm 103, that's David. And yet he says the very next words, verse 17, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him. We're quickly off the scene. You know our frame. We're just dust. You know that. But yet even so, you deal with us according to your mercy and it's never changing and it lasts forever. He will deal with us in mercy at our dying day and after, ever after our dying day. And every day until then. Well, make me know just how weak I am, but then to see that in light of you and your great mercy. And that seems to be the focus of David's prayer when he closes in verse 13 by saying that I may regain strength before I go away and am no more. Lord, it's your way to deal in mercy. You know my frame even as I do. Well, do you think that way in trials and griefs? They're short-lived and God's in control. He knows my frame. Or in your planning, endeavors, do you think in terms of, you know, my life's a vapor. If the Lord wills, I will do thus and such. It should teach us submission. It should make us humble. In fact, it should aid our submission, submitting to God's will. even concerning the end of our days, whenever that might be. Ecclesiastes 8, I referred to it earlier. In verse 8, no one has power in the day of death. No one can retain his spirit. The analogy I used earlier in quick wording was like a tug of war. There won't be a tug of war. No, no, no, no. I'm going to stay longer. We're helpless. And though we may struggle and resist, we've no power. And therefore, David's prayer, make me know my end. To quote a commentator from 20th century, in the greater awareness of the brevity of life, he hopes that the Lord will guide him in an understanding and acceptance of this brevity. Lord, you know. I accept it. Make me really It's that submission to God and his providence in not only life, but in death. That's the benefit that David wanted, that submission. But something more. David prayed to recognize his ceasing nature, even to be less attached to this world. To quote the old commentator Thomas Scott, he so prayed that he might be more engaged to prepare for death and eternity and less concerned about all his temporal interests. Whatever his trial was, it greatly impacted convenience, possessions, pleasures, life as a whole. And therefore, Lord, make me to see and be very aware of how short-lived I am at best, and therefore to see the things of this world as very short-lived. In other words, it teaches us to hold all things with a loose hand. This is not permanent here. That thing that you have that's yours in God's providence, that which is so impacted by your trials and griefs and sickness, hold it with a loose hand. Remember when Paul was writing in 1 Corinthians 7, he's talking about those who have this world, who use this world, is not abusing it. You have, but don't live as those who possess. Recognize we're just passing through, things are very, very passing away, and that includes us. And by seeing that life is short and death is certain again, cause them to hold it loosely. This is not a permanent thing here that I own. to live with less attachment to this world because our citizenship is in heaven. Maybe you've seen this with the elderly. You know, I think of my own dad. One time he had this, you know, 20 plus acre farm. It was more of a hobby. He had tool shop with thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars of tools. He was a carpenter. He was a woodworker. He did fantastic woodwork. He had all of this, right? And yet, as time went on, it meant less and less to him. Mind you, at age 84, digging fence posts by hand, the old post hole diggers, in that rocky soil in Grayson County. Yeah, I could see where that might lose some fascination along the way. I'm not near 84 yet and I don't fancy doing that. But things, till finally, he's perfectly content in a smaller room with a television. Tell him when it's time to eat. This world shrank, less attachment to things in this world. Well, we see that in the elderly. You know yourself from your own experience with aging parents and grandparents and so forth. But brethren, in a very real sense, not that we need to start selling the farm and getting rid of all of our tools, but that mindset befits us all. Lord, make me to know my end in the measure of my days. I don't need to be overly attached to this world. What I have is in your providence. Help me to hold it with a loose hand. It's gonna be gone someday. In fact, there's no indication in Psalm 39 that David was an old man when he penned these words. Well, I'm old now, it doesn't matter. I'm just ready to let things go. Well, that's a benefit. A loose hand is a good thing, isn't it? Well, why did Moses and why did David make this similar petition to God? Because clearly they saw benefits from being very aware of life's brevity and death certainty. At the same time, they saw a tendency in men, maybe in themselves, I assume, to not number our days, to not think right about life and death and dying. And therefore they prayed, they prayed in earnest in the face of what could have been distracting or alarming. David with some kind of affliction, Moses there in the midst of that rebellion and death all around. Yet they prayed and Moses prayed not only for himself but for others as well. And both of them prayed this way because they saw this numbering of our days is very desirable. That's very beneficial. We can't afford to be without this. Well, how desirable are these many benefits to you? We could, I'm sure, add to it, but for the sake of time, I'm leaving it at half a dozen. Are you enjoying any measure of these benefits? The fear of God from recognizing God's greatness in your finiteness? Is it causing you to live now for eternity as ready for it and being a good steward of your days? Are you so numbering your time, so mindful of your end that you're patient, that you're comforted when hard times hit and things are perplexed? Does it cause in you a submission? My life's a vapor. I'm dependent upon God. Does it cause you to hold things with a loose grip? This thing isn't as important as eternity. I'm just passing through. My brother, my sister, Don't you desire these benefits from numbering our days? Even increasingly so? Well, recognize our tendencies, our problems we face in living in light of life's brevity and death certainty, and recognize how important how beneficial it should be to be mindful, something so desirable, and certainly to greatly prefer the benefits of that to the folly and harm of not being mindful of our passing through. To take care to number our days, not to be conformed to this world. Don't be like the worldling. I think they've got all the time in the world. Well, we see how mistaken they are. But then especially, Do what Moses did. Do what David did. Pray in earnest. Lord, make me to know. Teach us to number our days, that we might know these benefits. What James says in James 4.2 applies here. You have not because you asked not. Do you pray this way? I mean, do you really in earnest pray this way? Shouldn't we? We shouldn't. Well, my God, help us, brethren. And to do so in that context of John 15, abiding in Christ, his word abiding in us, and whatever we ask, we get. In this, our fathers glorified that we should bear much fruit, all as we have that living relationship with Christ. Well, as we pray that way in faith, what should we expect? When James says in James 1 5, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. Well, brethren, this is very much in keeping with asking for wisdom, isn't it? Lord, teach me the number of my days that I might gain a heart of wisdom. We'll expect a rich harvest. And then, by God's grace, live with that wisdom in the heart and our comfort in the Lord. My God, help us. If you're here without Christ, you agree that you are going to die, right? If Christ tarries, you will die. When are you going to die? When? You young people, when are you going to die? When? When you're an old person? Maybe. But you have no guarantee of that. You have no guarantee you'll make it home safely tonight. I hope that you do. But no guarantee of that. More important, where will you spend eternity? You're right now a heartbeat away from eternity. Where will you spend it? If you die without Christ, you will be without him forever. The question he put to some religious people is a haunting question. How will you escape the condemnation of hell? Because after death, you can't, you won't. Everlasting punishment. I referred to it this morning, I'm happy to refer to it again. Ecclesiastes chapter nine, for him who is joined to the living, there's hope. Better a living dog than a dead lion. That lion may look mighty and he might have respect, but he's dead now, so he's nothing. And this dog that's so despised, better him, because the living know they will die. Well, you do know that. And you know that if Christ does not save you, you perish forever. But you're alive. And there's hope right now. Believe on the Lord Jesus, you will be saved. But how much longer will you have that hope? You don't know what a day will bring forth. That's why Paul says, today is a day of salvation. Now's the acceptable time. How will we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Repent and believe the good news. Christ saves sinners. Might God grant mercy. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you and your word have said so much about the frailty and the quick passing of our days. and so much about death and thereafter. We thank you that you've done this as a great kindness. We thank you for us as your people. Lord, that you've saved us and that though we do pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we pass through it and we come out even in that blessed intermediate state present with the Lord awaiting that glorious resurrection day and to be glorified together with Christ. Grant that we would now eagerly await his coming. Grant, O Lord, that we should be looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And grant that we would have hearts of wisdom now, and we would know the consolation now of seeing life is brief and death is sure, but eternity is long. And that is our blessedness in Christ. For those who are yet strangers to your grace, might their own frailty, might their own brevity take hold upon them, Lord, that they might gain a heart of wisdom, cause them to number their days, more cause them to understand their need for Christ. And oh, Lord, effectually draw them to yourself through the Savior. It's in his name we pray. Amen.