Daily devotional · September 1
Teach Us to Count Our Days
“So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil. May Your work be shown to Your servants, and Your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands— yes, establish the work of our hands!”
Moses prays a surprising prayer in Psalms 90:12: not for more days, but for wisdom to use the days we have. September is a good month for that prayer. Summer has ended, routines return, and the year suddenly feels shorter than it did in January. Time is the one gift we all receive in equal measure, and we tend to spend it on whatever shouts loudest. Moses asks God to teach him what matters, so that his heart gains wisdom instead of merely staying busy. He also asks that the work of his hands would be established, meaning that ordinary labor can carry lasting meaning when it is offered to God. Today, look at your calendar for the next week and choose one thing that truly matters, a person, a prayer, a piece of rest. Put it in writing with a time attached, and protect it.
Also read
“So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.”
Psalms 90:12
Prayer
Lord, teach me to number my days and spend them wisely. Establish the work of my hands for your glory.