Psalm 90:12-17 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.… I. THE WISDOM CONTEMPLATED IN OUR TEXT means something like the following: "Teach us, O God, the essential truth as embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His life. Then enable us to accept Him in faith." II. THE WORD "HEART" INCLUDES ALL THE FACULTIES. The whole soul and spirit, with all their strength, are to be applied in the search for wisdom. III. GOD'S QUALIFICATIONS TO INSTRUCT US. 1. He possesses sufficient knowledge. Is it not true that in the study of history, science, or philosophy, we are thinking God's thoughts? It is said of Agassiz, that before he would venture upon a line of investigation, he would bow his head in prayer, and ask God to direct him in the discovery of the truth. Let us pray, likewise, that God will teach us wisdom; that He will enable us to discover the highest, and the greatest truth; the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son. 2. God has the power to teach. 3. God has the strong personality necessary to impress the learner. 4. God's works are evidence to us that He is competent to teach us wisdom. Can we look across the broad meadows of our valleys, the rolling pasture lands on the hillsides, and the boundless grain-fields of redeemed prairies, without feeling in our souls that He has stretched these out before us, and for us, in infinite wisdom? And as we dig into the bowels of the earth, and discover stupendous and varied forces, undreamed-of wealth of gold, silver, copper, oil and gas, are we not confounded and led to exclaim, "What infinite wisdom, goodness and power are manifested here"? IV. TIME IS OUR ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR ACQUIRING WISDOM. An Italian philosopher expressed in his motto "that time was his estate; an estate, indeed, that will produce nothing without cultivation, but will always repay abundantly the labours of industry, and satisfy the most extensive desires, if no part of it be suffered to lie waste by negligence, to be overrun by noxious plants, or laid out for show rather than for use." Time is our opportunity to estimate human life by the purpose to which it should be applied. It should be measured by the eternity to which it leads. (R. V. Hunter.) Parallel Verses KJV: So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.WEB: So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. |
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