Teach us to number our days (Ps. 90)

There is an actress named Ingrid Bergman, famous for her roles in For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Seventh Cross, Gaslight, and others. The movies she starred in were always highly praised due to her exceptional acting. Originally from Sweden, she made a name for herself in Europe before venturing to Hollywood with great aspirations to achieve even more fame. In Hollywood, she acted in several films and won two Academy Awards. It’s likely that an actress of her caliber is rare. However, at the peak of her success, she cried out, “Hollywood! Silver screen… is it really so desolate, so empty…?” She left her husband and daughter, married a famous film director, but soon faced the downfall of that marriage. Later, she married several other men. One day, a tragic event occurred when her daughter killed her stepfather. Ingrid had goals in her life, and she achieved them. But she lacked purpose. Ultimately, she died a miserable death from cancer. She lived a life with goals but no purpose. Many people have goals, but no purpose. Goals give direction, while purpose asks for meaning. The question "Why do we live?" is a question for purpose, while "Where should we go?" asks about goals. Many people confuse goals and purpose, as though they are the same, and end up ruining their precious, one-time life (Internet).

Like Ingrid Bergman, who achieved her goals but felt emptiness, how many people today feel that same emptiness? A representative biblical figure who experienced this is King Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes 1:2, he says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” From this statement, we can see that Solomon truly experienced the emptiness of life. To summarize Ecclesiastes in one sentence: it teaches us how meaningless life is without God. That is, all human effort apart from God is in vain, and it is only in the restoration of the relationship between God and man that eternal value and meaning can be found. Apart from God, wisdom is futile (1:12-6:9), pleasure and material things are empty (2:1-11), materialistic living is vain (12-23), oppression is futile (4:1-3), all efforts are in vain (4-12), and even politics is meaningless (13-16). The author of Ecclesiastes doesn’t just present these ideas as philosophical musings but rather shares them as lessons based on personal experience. Ultimately, true and lasting joy cannot be found in this world, and the true satisfaction of life can only be found in a relationship with God or within God (Internet).

So how should we live in this fleeting and meaningless world? To find the answer, we must pray the same prayer that the psalmist prayed to God in Psalm 90:12. The prayer is, "Teach us to number our days." This prayer contains two essential elements that we should reflect on.

Look at Psalm 90:3: "You return man to dust, and say, 'Return, O children of men.'" God said to Adam, "For dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). God, who made Adam from dust, told him, "You are dust, and to dust you will return." Yes, we are lives destined to return to dust, and for that reason, life is empty. That’s why King Solomon also said in Ecclesiastes 3:19-21: "For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them; as one dies, so dies the other; surely they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals; all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all return to dust. Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?" Just like the preacher said, everything is vanity; because everything is from dust, and everything returns to dust, life is empty.

Look at Psalm 90:4-6: "For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. You carry them away like a flood; they are like a sleep; in the morning they are like grass which grows up; in the morning it flourishes and grows; in the evening it is cut down and withers." Life is "like a sleep" and "like grass that grows in the morning." Time and life pass quickly, and life is inevitably empty. Just like being swept away by a flood, human lives are quickly extinguished. Life is like a brief sleep where time passes faster when we're unaware. Moreover, just like having many dreams while sleeping, there are many empty plans in life (Park Yun-seon). According to the Psalmist, life is like the grass that grows in the morning and withers in the evening. Just like that, life is also fleeting and empty. That’s why the apostle James said: "You do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14). Especially when we consider that God is eternal (Psalm 90:2), human life cannot be compared. Truly, life is short, and short again. Life is brief and empty.

(3) Life is empty because it is filled with toil and sorrow throughout one's existence.

Look at Psalm 90:10: "The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." Our lifespan is seventy years, or at most eighty if we are strong, but in that brief time, it is filled with toil and sorrow, so life is empty. That's why the preacher, King Solomon, also said: "What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end" (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23). A life filled with worry and labor is a life full of sorrow; a life full of pain and suffering, where rest is elusive, and yet the Bible says even this is vanity. And so, King Solomon says, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

We must pray to God, just like the psalmist, saying, “Teach us to number our days.” In particular, we must learn the three reasons why life is empty, as shown in today’s passage. We must have deep understanding. We need to realize that life is empty because we return to dust, because it is too short, and because it is filled with labor and sorrow throughout our lives.

The second part of the prayer is: “Teach us to live our lives in a meaningful way.”

If we understand the emptiness of life, we must never waste it. In other words, we must consider how we can live our short lives meaningfully. Today’s passage teaches us three lessons in this regard:

(1) To live a meaningful life, we must fear God.

Look at Psalm 90:11: “Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.” In order to fear God, we must ask, as the psalmist did, for a “heart of wisdom” (v. 12). Why? Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). So, as King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, even though everything is “vanity of vanities,” he concluded in Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” The Bible tells us that the duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments. Therefore, in order to live a meaningful life, we must, like the psalmist, ask God for a wise heart and live a life that fears God.

(2) To live a meaningful life, we must be satisfied with the Lord’s mercy.

Look at Psalm 90:14: “Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” To those of us who could not help but live a life filled with labor and sorrow, God has given, and continues to give, true joy in Jesus Christ. That joy and gladness come from the Lord’s mercy. In other words, when we are satisfied with the Lord’s love, we experience true joy and can live our lives meaningfully. And as we live by the love of the Lord, following Jesus’ command to love God and love our neighbors, we can live a meaningful life.

(3) To live a meaningful life, we must live for the glory of the Lord.

Look at Psalm 90:16: “Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their children.” The psalmist, asking God to grant us joy according to the number of days we have suffered (according to the years we have been afflicted), prays that God will reveal His works and His glory to us (v. 15). In a lifetime full of labor and sorrow, for us to enjoy the joy that God gives, His works must be revealed in our lives. In other words, when God's glory is manifested in our lives, we cannot help but rejoice. The reason life is filled with labor and sorrow is that we live for our own glory, not for God's glory, and only our glory is revealed. To live a truly meaningful life, we must live for God's glory. When we do so, and God's works are manifested in our lives, that life will indeed be fulfilling and valuable.

(4) To live a meaningful life, we must long for the grace of God.

Look at Psalm 90:17: “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands; yes, establish the work of our hands.” Yesterday, during the Tuesday morning prayer service, we meditated on 2 Samuel 9:1, focusing on how David showed “God’s grace” (v. 3) to Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, who was lame in both feet. David, faithful to the covenant he made with Jonathan, told Mephibosheth, “I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan” (v. 7), and David restored to Mephibosheth “all the land of Saul” (v. 7). Furthermore, he made Mephibosheth eat at the king’s table as one of the king’s sons (vv. 7, 10, 11, 13). David also made Ziba, the servant of Saul, and his fifteen sons, along with twenty servants, serve Mephibosheth (v. 10). Mephibosheth’s response was this: “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?” (v. 8). Reflecting on this passage, the conclusion is that, although we do not deserve God’s grace, He has poured out His grace of salvation and all the spiritual blessings He gives us in Jesus Christ. For this, we can only give thanks, thanks, and more thanks. Therefore, we sing the hymn 495 "My Soul Has Found True Peace":
(Verse 1) "My soul has found true peace,
Free from the heavy burden of sin,
In this sorrowful world,
It has turned into a heavenly one."
Chorus: "Hallelujah, praise the Lord,
All my sins are forgiven,
I walk with Jesus,
Wherever I go, it is heaven."

As I meditated on today's message, I came across a poem on the internet that I would like to share with you:

"The stream flows, flowing endlessly, where does it go?
Before the fallen leaves drop, it boasts of its beauty,
but when it falls, one by one, silently, only emptiness remains.
Even when it dazzles with its beauty, it is only for a moment,
and our life, when it flaunts youth, passes by in an instant.
Then, like a lonely and sorrowful fallen leaf, it becomes the autumn of life,
and when late autumn comes, only emptiness remains.
Even the times when we cried out for the hardships of life have passed,
and as we look at the fallen leaves,
we are led to think about the last moments of our life.
Like the beautiful colors of autumn leaves,
the echoes of life vanish silently, without a trace.
Ah, what is the meaning of life on this earth?
Our life, like the colors of beautiful autumn leaves,
becomes tinged with memories that make our hearts ache."
(Internet)

We must deeply realize the futility of life in this fleeting and empty world. Therefore, we must learn, through the word of God, how to live a valuable life in this one life we have. Let us live in awe of our God, satisfied by His mercy, and continually seek His grace. May we all live for the glory of God.

Wishing to live a valuable life before God while deeply feeling the emptiness of life,

Pastor James Kim
(At the Pastoral Room of Victory Presbyterian Church, established by the Lord)

Teach us to number our days

[Psalm 90]