Slowing Down Time
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12
A lot has changed since the electric clock was invented in the 1840s. We now keep time on smart watches, smart phones, and laptops. The entire pace of life seems faster—with even our “leisurely” walking speeding up. This is especially true in cities and can have a negative effect on health, scholars say. “We’re just moving faster and faster and getting back to people as quickly as we can,” Professor Richard Wiseman observed. “That’s driving us to think everything has to happen now.”
Moses, the writer of one of the oldest of the Bible’s psalms, reflected on time. He reminds us that God controls life’s pace. “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night,” he wrote (Psalm 90:4).
The secret to time management, therefore, isn’t to go faster or slower. It’s to abide in God, spending more time with Him. Then we get in step with each other, but first with Him—the One who formed us (139:13) and knows our purpose and plans (v. 16).
Our time on earth won’t last forever. Yet we can manage it wisely, not by watching the clock, but by giving each day to God. As Moses said, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (90:12). Then, with God we’ll always be on time, now and forever.
By Patricia Raybon
REFLECT & PRAY
Gracious God, when we fall out of step with You, draw us closer to abide in You.
What’s your pace in life? How could you spend more time with God, getting in step with Him?
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
We shouldn’t be surprised to see the name of Moses in the superscription of Psalm 90. The broadly gifted Moses wasn’t only a law-giving prophet; he was also a poet. Though just one of his songs appears in the collection of the Psalms, the Bible features other lyrical compositions by him. He likely wrote Exodus 15, which chronicles God’s mighty rescue of the Israelites from Egypt. At the end of his life, Moses penned the song recorded in Deuteronomy 32, which is introduced with these words: “And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel” (31:30). Psalm 90:1—“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations”—echoes Deuteronomy 33:27: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Arthur Jackson
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