So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Psalms 90:12, KJV - A Prayer of Moses

Did you know that of the 150 Psalms, there is actually contained a prayer from Moses? It consists of about 17 verses, and takes only a minute or two to read, but it has enough needed instruction packed into it that it could easily keep you occupied in thought for many hours. Further, the result of that thought could keep you quite profitably occupied for a lifetime!

It is a prayer of perspective from a man who lived a life that was, to say the least, unique. He was born of slaves and condemned to die from birth, but God had a plan for Moses' life that would change the entire world for all time. His first forty years of life consisted of his being raised by the ruling family of Egypt in the very household of Pharoah himself! But Moses did not choose to live a life of power and pampered self-indulgence, so he eventually found himself fleeing for his life because he chose to stand up for the rights of God's chosen people.

The next forty years of his life found him shepherding a flock in a wilderness that likely suited him far better than any palace. He settled down, got married and must have had an idyllic life of peace in a pastoral setting that most of us can only dream about. But that life of calm was about to come to a screeching halt!

At the age of eighty when most men are anticipating the end of their physical days, God called this humble man to lead His people, the nation of Israel, out of their bondage. For the next forty years, God had Moses lead His chosen people through this wilderness, culling out the wicked and preparing the righteous for a new Law and a new way of life, in the virtual paradise of a land that had been promised to them over four hundred years earlier.

It was this Moses who prayed this prayer of perspective that is so needed in our modern world today. He asked that since our lives are finite - typically seventy to eighty years at best - we need to think carefully about what we are here for. We need to recognize our physical limitations before it is too late to do so, and then we need to add this understanding to our overall knowledge and skill sets in order to live the life that God has called us to live in the first place.

Failure in this needed perspective will essentially result in a lifetime of wandering in the wilderness. And success? Well, success in mastering this critical perspective will mean a righteous life that will eventually prepare us for a Promised Land of our own.

Only those with the proper perspective will get this... do you?

And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish Thou the work of our hands...

Psalms 90:17, KJV