Psalm 90:12-17
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
An honest look at your life’s pursuits might yield a challenging conclusion – especially if you ask the question, “Am I pursuing things that I honestly want God to bless?” More pointedly we might ask, “Am I pursuing things of eternal consequence? Am I seeking God’s kingdom first and most?”
There is a direct connection between the call to God that he teach us to number our days, and the request that he establish the works of our hands. These two go hand in hand because we are mortal (cf. Psalm 90:10 below) and have no power beyond the grave to pursue anything. The only lasting pursuits will be those established by God. These are the things of God’s kingdom.
The wisdom we gain by numbering our days is the wisdom of God’s perspective. We begin to count things as important or unimportant based on grace and truth. The reign of Christ in our hearts (aka the Kingdom of God) takes front and center stage in our goals. We look more toward passing on the faith to our children than providing them with a six or seven-figure inheritance. We are more given to providing place and space for the people in our lives than making certain our house is featured in the latest issue of Architecture magazine. The latter may be something we achieve for which we thank God, but the former is our first love and pursuit.
The finest houses will one day be destroyed. The largest inheritances will eventually go to someone who wastes the fortune. But whenever we build relationships that connect people with Christ, or teach our children the faith, we pursue things of eternal consequence and legacy.
Psalm 90
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You return man to dust
and say, “Return, O children of man!”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
David Bahn - Reflections 
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