Psalm 90:9-17
9 When you are angry, all our days are gone;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty;
yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone.
11 Who regards the power of your wrath?
Who rightly fears your indignation?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
13 Turn, O Lord! How long?
Have compassion on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us
and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be manifest to your servants
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us
and prosper for us the work of our hands—
O prosper the work of our hands!
The final part of Psalm 90 reminds us of the waning feeling of life when we disappoint God and fall short. Even though we trust in God’s unconditional love and grace, it’s still easy for us to imagine God being angry and disappointed. And from one generation to the next, just like a circle that has no end, the pattern continues.
So, we pray to God to teach us to number our days, because perhaps if one of these generations does it well enough, the pattern will be broken, and the wisdom of God will finally be wholly applied to the hearts of humankind.
Until that day, we seek God’s mercy and compassion for the suffering ever at our doorstep. All the while, we long for God’s work to be manifest in us, God’s glorious power through God’s children, that brings about God’s justice in the world.
– Pr. Kyle
Compassionate God, when we project our fear and anger on You or others in our life, hold us close. Help us to acknowledge the damage it causes in our relationships and the roadblock it creates for your will to be done. Amen.