Beloved congregation in the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to a text such as this, this morning, that deals with our mortality. It speaks to us as God is the one who gives wisdom to us through His Word to be those that are vigilant, to be those that reflect upon our short life in this world so that we might live a right. David spoke about our lives in Psalm 39 and how they were just a hand breath. A hand breath is basically the span from this finger to the thumb. That width, that's how short it is. And so we need to be people that really reflect upon the short life that we have and how we live our lives. What are we living for? Being prepared to know that we are going to die. We all know that. The living know that they must die. God has put eternity into all of our hearts. So we also know that we're not simply going to die, but that we are going to die and meet our maker. We are going to then come to the presence of the one who has created us and who sustains us, and therefore we ought to be diligent about numbering our days and recognizing how frail and fleeting that our life is. There are nobody that's promised a particular duration of life on this earth. Some die in the womb. Some die in infancy. Some die when they're three or four years old. Some die when they're a hundred and all the numbers in between. We're not promised any particular time on this earth. And even if you're 80 years old, notice that it's vanity and toil that the life is, to struggle in this life. And yet, how often are we conditioned by this world not to think about mortality, not to think about our short, brief life? I remember seeing a commercial recently with regards to life insurance. And the family comes home and they begin talking about, it was good to see so and so and such and such. Yeah, and it was difficult under these conditions. And then the mother who just lost her husband, she sits down and she says, it got me to be thinking about life insurance. and what's going to be there to provide for you kids. And the son stops for a moment and he turns around and he says to his mom, nothing's going to happen to you tomorrow. Because she makes that comment. What if something happened to me tomorrow? Nothing is going to happen to you tomorrow. Well, I guarantee, Every man knows he's mortal and every man knows that every other man is mortal also. And he knows that all mortal men die, but he deceives himself to think that he's not going to. It's amazing what happens in the life. I mean, and this is why James confronts us, doesn't he, in James 4. In vain boasting pride, the man says, I'm going to go to such and such a city, spend some time there, and I'm going to buy and sell, and I'm going to make a profit. Notice the declaration of the man's life. I'm going to do these things. And James says, you're a fool. You don't know what your life is. You're a vapor. You're here today, and you're gone tomorrow. You're like steam that rises up from the tea kettle, or the mist on a particular morning that you wake up, and it looks like a little foggy mist, and the sun comes up and burns it off, and it disappears just that quick. That's how the Scriptures speak to our lives in this way. It speaks to us so that we might not walk with haughtiness, but that we might walk as people I fear the Lord. Job says that his days were few. Job 10, my days on this life and this earth are few days. Job 14, he said, man who was born of woman is few of days and full of trouble. Trouble is the life, and very few are my days. And my few days are filled with troubles, difficulties, and trials. Few days. Now, when you read these particular passages, or Hebrews 9, it's appointed unto all men to die once. and then come the judgment. What do you think of, beloved? Do you recognize that the Lord is speaking to you through His word about your own mortality? Are you thinking about your life, how you're living your life, what you're living for, all of your pursuits? Man wants to amass things on this earth without any regard to God. And as Jesus said to the man who said, I'm going to tear down my barns and build bigger barns so that I can say to my soul, take it easy. You have everything that you need. Have an easy life. Eat, drink, and be merry. And Jesus said, you fool. This night, your life is going to be required of you. And then, whose will those things become that you amassed? That was Solomon's lament. I gained so much and some fool is going to take everything that I have gained. We put a lot of stock into those things and we don't think often about this short, brief life that we have on this earth. Truly, our life is a vapor. You live to be 90 or 100 years old. What is that compared to eternity? What is 100 years, 1,000 years, 10,000 years in light of eternity? It's nothing. That's why the Scriptures relate in that way. 1,000 years in the sight of the Lord is like yesterday. It's like a day. Peter even says that a day is like 1,000 years. 1,000 years is like a day. We need to heed what the scriptures teach us. God instructs us through this word. We of all people, beloved, those that are redeemed of Jesus Christ, who confess his name, We need to be those that are instructed so that we might teach others. So that you might instruct your children. Because in a real sense, God deals with us through His Word and prepares us to deal with the providence He brings upon us. The things that He brings upon us in this world. The difficulties, the trials. So look at our text this morning. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Now, the short text, it's a text that has a lot of punch. Let me give you three things that we can see right here in this particular text, that Moses, here in his prayer, he's desiring God's instruction. That is the heart of the believer, desiring the instruction of God. Also, when it says, teach us to number our days, there's a recognition there of a brief life. He recognizes our brief life. And thirdly, he goes to the Lord and he asks the Lord to teach him that he might gain wisdom. And so the third point is walking in wisdom. So let's look at this. what Moses prays. Moses, as he wrote this psalm about 1,500 years before Christ, it was a prayer. It was a prayer to God. Probably the setting was towards the end of the wilderness wanderings. So 40 years in the wilderness wandering around, probably towards the end of that, and all the difficulties and trials that they went through as the people of God. And Moses pens this prayer, and it's about in the middle of the psalm book. And the Psalter is something that's given to the people of God. And it's given to instruct our hearts. It's given to cause us to rejoice. Rejoicing and knowing the truth. The truth always should make us rejoice. Because God is truth. And we rejoice in knowing and understanding the truth. And so Moses, notice, he prays. And what he prays for is for godly living in his life. that he might see things and understand things correctly. A prayer of godliness. Teach me to live as a godly individual. Teach me to live in a manner that is honorable to you, that recognizes that I know that you are my God. That my life is in your hand. That my life is a stewardship. And all that you have blessed me with, I use as a stewardship to bring glory and praise to your holy name. It's much like the disciples who came to Jesus and said, teach us to pray. Instruct us. Moses is demonstrating here. He's demonstrating wisdom, isn't he? In coming to the Lord. I've said this before, even with Solomon was granted great wisdom, wisdom as no other man, fallen sinful man on this earth had ever possessed. But think of the wisdom that Solomon had to even ask the Lord for wisdom. And how many fools on this earth today who don't even recognize that they need wisdom. So that Moses demonstrates this understanding, this wisdom of recognizing he needs to be taught. He needs a continual, habitual instructing from the Lord. And this is what he prays. It shows his humility. Humility in prayer, coming to the Lord in prayer, bowing before the Lord, calling out, crying out to Him, submitting to Him. It shows some spiritual maturity in Moses' life that he comes to the Lord and asks for these particular things. It shows a submission in his life, that he is one willing and desirous to submit to the teaching of God. That you teach me, you instruct me, I'll submit to that. Because these are things I just don't know, I don't understand, and I desire to know them. It teaches a reverence, a godly fear. Beloved, are you desiring to be taught of the Lord? Do you recognize? how much we lack understanding? Do you recognize how much we take for granted? Do you recognize that we are to come to the Lord to ask for wisdom? James even refers to this, while you're going through a time of suffering and difficulty, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all severally as he wills. He's the one who gives wisdom. He's the one that will give wisdom and understanding in how to handle the trials and troubles that we go through in this life. And so, if we are going to be instructed by the Lord, if we're going to come to Him in prayer, asking, beseeching, pleading with Him to teach us, you see that also all through the Psalms, don't you? We need to be people also of humility. We need to be people of reverence. We need to be people of submission. We need to hear and obey the Word of God. We need to be quick to hear the Word of God. Slow to speak. In other words, we learn. And once we learn what God teaches in His Word, then we begin to speak that Word. But if we're not people of reverence, you know, it's the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord. If we're not going to be those people, you're going to be prideful, vain, puffed up, boastful, think you know in and of yourselves, you're not going to come to the Lord. But this is the prayer. Teach me. Instruct me, Lord. So how quick are we as God's people to be instructed by the word? To desire to hear that word, whether it's preached, taught, read, Family devotions, the Word of God has opened up. How much time do we give to hear that instruction from the Lord? That the Lord would speak to us through His Word. That's how the Holy Spirit ministers to us, through this Word. How much time do we give to hear and to understand from the Lord, to be instructed? This is what Moses is praying for. We do that, beloved. We do that by being instructed, by remembering God's Word, by cultivating that Word in our life, by meditating upon His truth. Just think about this for a minute. Teach us to number our days. Our days are numbered. Our days are going to come to an end on this earth. Our time on this earth is going to end. Every one of the children of men who have been born died. And they will die unless Christ returns. Our days are numbered. And so it's wisdom to ask of the Lord, teach me that I might gain a heart of understanding. Our brief days. It's amazing how the Scriptures bear that out for us. James 4 speaks that we must have always an eye to the providence of God. Understanding, through the teaching of God's Word, that it's the Lord's will that's going to be done. You know, there are many plans in the heart of a man, but the Lord's will, that will stand. It's the Lord's will that's going to be done. We need to understand that, and that's why we say, Thy will be done. Lord willing. I'll go here and I'll do this, and I'll do that. If it's the Lord's will. If it's not the Lord's will, it won't happen. And we ought to be those of submission, of humility, of reverence to simply submit to the plan of God. You don't find that with the apostles of crying and moaning and complaining because they can't get their way. The apostle Paul went to one city and the door was closed. He kept on moving. All right, then I'll go to another city. The Lord is the one that's going to open up a door to me. The Lord is the one who is going to cause this to prosper. It's His word. It's His work. Simply direct me where I ought to be. And so recognize, beloved, the brevity of your life. That's what Moses is praying. That ought to be our prayer. We ought to appropriate this to ourselves. We ought to apply this principally in our own lives. Lord, teach us. How would you live if you knew tomorrow you're going to die? What would you change in your life if you knew? God doesn't reveal that to us. But if you knew, if He did, if He showed you, how would you then live? What would you do today if you know tomorrow is your last day? Because, beloved, in a reality, think about this, there is a last day coming for all of us. Every one of us have a last day. And we don't know what that day is going to be, when. And so we ought to be praying for that wisdom in our lives. And we always ought to have an eye to the providential rule of God. That's again, as I mentioned earlier, the man who built bigger barns. He didn't care about God. He didn't care about God's Word, God's rule, God's reign, God's providence. He didn't care anything about God. He didn't want God in any of his thinking. He didn't look and get consulted by the Word of God and be instructed. He had no prayer for the things of God. He was of the earth. He was earthly. He wanted all the things of the earth. He was running after and amassing all the things of the earth. That's why Jesus said, notice, to store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Not here on earth, things in heaven. Now, there are particular things that we need, but notice that the treasure is to be stored in heaven. Because here, what do you have? You have moths that come in and they destroy your clothing. You know all the clothing that we have packed in our closets? You know all that clothing, some of the things that are buried in there, that you haven't seen in months? Maws get in and they eat through the material. And then you go in and you look at your jackets. Oh, I got holes in my pockets. Where do they come from? Then you have all kinds of riches. And what happens? People see your riches because they crave them also. They got their eye on you. Wow, they're going on vacation. Now we can get their goods. We can break in and steal. That's what the thief does. and you buy a new car, and how long before you start seeing the little rust spots on it from the salt that they put on the roads during the winter time? You know, that was the saying when you live in California, never buy a Midwestern car. Why? Because it's in the snow and salt and grime, and it gets up there and it corrodes, and you know what? You can't even see this thing happening. That's what Jesus said about our earthly possessions, what happens to them. Thieves break in and steal, the moths come in and corrupt it, and the rust makes it wilt away to nothing. But he said, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Notice how important this is. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Is your heart of the earth or is your heart of heaven? Paul said to think on things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Teach us to number our days. Beloved, recognize your brief life. Recognize what the scriptures speak about our brief life. That it's a brief life, it's described as a vapor, it's described as dust. Even the nations of the earth, Isaiah said, are like a dust on the balance, dust on the scale. You ever see that little light dust that gets on the scale? That's what he's referring to. Or a little light dust that gets on the windowsill, that you can blow it and it just blows it off. That's how our lives are described by Scripture. It's that fleeting. It can be snuffed out that easily, that quickly. And what could it be? It could be a heart attack. It could be a stroke, an aneurysm. It could be a blood clot. A multitude of things that can happen with the body. Cancer can wreak out the body, can eat us from the inside out, and there we die. It could be a car crash. Or how about the man where the tree fell down on top of him as he was cutting it down? Things that we don't even think about. Wow, how did that happen? A plane flying over and the engine fell out and wiped out a whole block of people. Food poisoning, typhoon, hurricane, earthquake, a disease, a certain particular illness, a sickness, a virus, something that gets into you. And the Lord through that takes your life. It's fleeting. And we need to understand that because it helps us to keep focused on the important things. And the important things, beloved, need to be the important things. And the things that are trivial need to be pushed aside. How often do we traffic in the trivial and not in that which is important? So we need to prioritize our lives because our lives are like grass. They grow up for a time, and as the scripture says, the heat of the sun comes out and melts it away, and it is gone. That hand breath of a life. Prioritize your life. The important things must remain the important things. You cannot allow the trivial, mundane things, and it's not that these things may not be important. But there is an importance, and your number one priority is to worship and serve the true and living God and submit to Him. Now how far is that from our thinking? Will I do that on Sunday? No, no. That is your life. Christ who is our life. For me to live is Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. It's not only I who live, but Christ who lives in me. That's our life. You see, it's not a separate existence. It's not Jesus over here and we're over here doing as we... We live for Him. We are in Him and He is in us. And this keeps us focused upon what's important in our life and how to live for His honor and glory. Don't waste your time. Don't fritter away your time. You only have a certain amount of time that God has given to you on this earth to steward for His glory and for the good of the people of God. It's always in connection with the church of Jesus Christ. Church is not something on that outward area of your life. As you say, Christ is central to my life, and church is one of the activities of my life. That is not the paradigm that Scripture gives. If Christ is central to your life, the church is central to your life. And that's how you are to live, because that's what the Scriptures teach us. Our minds are to be held captive to the Word of God. And so we need to be instructed, continually be instructed. We're constantly in a world that battles against the truth of God's Word, wanting to suppress it and quiet the voice of the Gospel. So let us continue to be instructed to number our days. Lastly, we are to walk in wisdom. So the pray for the numbering of our days that God would teach us, would instruct us, is for a particular purpose that we might walk in wisdom. As I said, the psalmist said, Psalm 111, that walking in the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 1 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. You can have knowledge without wisdom, but you can't have wisdom without knowledge. So we need to be people of wisdom. The Proverbs said, in all of your getting, in all of your amassing, in all of your pursuits, in all of your getting, get wisdom. Get understanding, Proverbs 4. Wisdom is the principal thing. It's better to have wisdom than great riches. How foreign is that in our day? It's better to have wisdom than have many diamonds and jewels and rubies. How many people would rather have the temporary for that which is eternal? How many would rather have and amass these particular things and never cultivate this or look for this or desire that or ask for this? How many people in the church live that particular way? It's to gain a heart of understanding. It's a gain, you know, and a gaining a heart of understanding, it's through effort. It doesn't come by osmosis. It comes by effort. It comes by praying. It comes by exercising the means of grace. And recognize, beloved, this is for people that are redeemed. This is for the people of God. And the people of God, this wisdom and growing in knowledge and learning how to discern, as the writer of the Hebrews says in chapter 5, being able to discern between right and wrong, truth and error, comes by use of exercise. that you're in the truth, that you're using and reading the truth, that you're having that truth dwell in you richly, so that it instructs you at every turn how you are to live your life. Walking in wisdom. What is wisdom? How is wisdom seen? Again, the Proverbs speaks of it as the fear of the Lord. What is the fear of the Lord? It's a heart of reverence. It's a heart of submission. It's loving, humble reverence to the true and living God, submitting to His will, even as we see in the garden with Jesus. Father, if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thy will be done. It's submitting to the will of God. Submitting to the Word of God. Remember the two builders? Remember the storm hit both of their houses? And they were instructed how to build. One built on sand, the other built on the rock, which Jesus refers to as His Word. That's the metaphor there. How He's bringing it across is, My Word is the bedrock foundation. Build your life on the Word. The other one didn't have time for that. When the storms of life come, he was rocked, and everything that he built, his house of cards, came crumbling on his head. Who was wise? Jesus said that the one that was wise heard the instruction and put it into practice. So what is wisdom? Wisdom is a righteous application of knowledge. It's the knowledge that God gives that we apply in a righteous manner. That's walking in wisdom. It's doing what God calls us to do. That's the wise one. He who hears the word of God and keeps it. Here is my mother and my brother and my sisters. He who hears the Word of God and does it. That's the wise one, as Jesus is referring to. So where can this wisdom be found? Now that the Scriptures define it as the fear of the Lord, that holy reverence for our God, that submission to His will, bowing our necks to the yoke of Jesus Christ, where do you find it? I'm going to read a passage of Scripture here. Just listen to this. Number of verses, but it's instructive to us. Job 28, beginning at verse 12. But where can wisdom be found? He asked the same question. Where can I find this wisdom? Job asked that long ago. Where can wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value. Think of that, beloved. He doesn't understand how valuable it is. When Solomon asked for wisdom, the Lord blessed him with wisdom that no sinful fallen man had ever possessed. And He gave it increasingly because He didn't ask for riches, or long life, or the lives of His enemies. He asked for wisdom And through wisdom, God gave him the rest of these things. He learned how to walk wise. He learned how to do business. He learned how to get along with his neighbor. He learned and knew how to build, and to construct, and to oversee, and to delegate. He learned these things through the wisdom that God gave him. We read on. Nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, it's not in me, and the sea says, it's not with me. It cannot be purchased for gold, nor can silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, and precious onyx or sapphire. Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, nor can it be exchanged for a jewelry of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or quartz. For the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold." Notice the picture that is painted there. Nothing that man esteems so great of earth can equate to wisdom. Man doesn't see its value, that's why he does not pursue the wisdom of God, but all these other things. And in doing that, in amassing these things, shows himself to be a fool. Goes on. From where then does wisdom come? Where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all the living and concealed from the birds of the air. Destruction and death say, we have heard a report about it with our ears. God understands its way. He knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees under the whole heavens to establish a weight for the wind and apportionment the waters by measure. When he made a law for the rain and the path for the thunderbolt, then he saw wisdom and declared it. He prepared it, indeed, he searched it out. And to man he said, listen, last verse, behold, behold, pay attention, hear this, listen to this instruction, the fear of the Lord, the reverence submission, the humility to bow your necks to the Word of God. That is wisdom. It's hearing the Word of God and keeping it. It's doing what He says. To depart from evil is understanding. Who is a wise individual? A wise individual is one by the work of the Spirit who bows his neck to Jesus Christ. who says, the Lord said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but by Him. And therefore, there is no other way to come to the Father. That's the wise individual. The fool says, there's many ways to God. Don't worry, just be sincere in the way you live your life. That's the fool. That's the moron. That's the ethically perverse individual who will not submit to the wisdom of God. The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil. Beloved, this ought to be our prayer. Teach us to number our days. Instruct us, Lord. Give us a zeal for Your glory. Give us a zeal for Your Word. Give us a zeal for Your wisdom that we might live as those that reflect Your wisdom and Your glory and Your honor and Your praise. Teach us to be wise in our family dealings. Teach us to be wise in how we live our lives in our vocation. Teach us to be wise in the church. Show us of what is of a most importance in our life. Show us and teach us and instruct us, Lord, that we might gain a heart of understanding. Give us a zeal to read and to study your word and to grow in the knowledge of the truth. that we might be able to recognize that our life is a vapor, is a dust, a steam, is like the grass of the field here today and gone tomorrow. And so that we might direct our lives aright for God's glory, created and recreated in Christ for that very purpose. Let this be our prayer. Teach us, Lord, so that we have a heart of understanding. Amen. Shall we pray?