Sabbath: Wisdom for Righteous Living
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 17th of February 2024
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study
Psalms 119:1-16, Psalms 90:1-17, John 3:16, Psalms 95:7-11, Psalms 141:1-10, Psalms 128:1-6.
Memory Text:
“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12, NKJV).
As we have seen, God’s grace provides for the forgiveness of sin, and it creates a new heart in the repentant sinner, who now lives by faith.
God’s Word also provides instructions for righteous living (Psalms 119:9-16). Keeping God’s law is by no means a legalistic observance of rules but life in an intimate relationship with God, a life full of blessings (Psalms 119:1-2; Psalms 128:1-6).
However, the life of the righteous person is not without temptations. Sometimes the righteous can be tempted by the cunning nature of sin (Psalms 141:2-4) and even fall to that temptation. God allows times of testing to let His children’s faithfulness (or unfaithfulness) be clearly revealed. If God’s children heed God’s instruction and admonishment, their faith will be purified and their trust in the Lord strengthened. Wisdom for righteous living is gained through the dynamics of life with God amid temptations and challenges. Thus, the prayer that God would teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalms 90:12) reflects an ongoing commitment to walk in faithfulness to the Lord.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 24.
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At this time of the year I tease my aging friends with the reminder that 10% of 2024 has already been written into the history books. The worry is that for those of us who are my age, that is also a fair bit of the rest of our lives. Numbering our days is a sober reminder that we only get a few of them. That does not mean that we should be morbid about it. It is a bit like eating your favourite meal. You wish there was more of it, but when you are finished, you feel satisfied.
"Teach us to number our days" is an invitation to use a finite resource wisely. And, there is a lot more to our spiritual lives than quoting religious platitudes to one another.
Now it is a bright clear Sabbath morning and I am going out for a couple of hours of bird photography in the bush before I go to church. I think that is a good way to spend 8% of the Sabbath.
What's this word teach us to number our day's? is it prophetical or what?
If you read the Psalm right through, you will probably see it is essentially about how we use our time now.
In the psalms the author posses a question how can a young man cleanse his way? Actually being young and full of self is tough for the young it's only by submitting to the will of God can one be at ease. This wisdom is in scripture and prayer 🙏
“Teach us to number our days” indicates that a sense of time is something to be learned and not innate. I’ve noticed that I have a similar instinct as some animals when it comes to circadian rhythms, for example waking up before my alarm clock goes off. However, when it comes to seeing my life in terms of eternity and allowing that heavenly reality to shape the choices I make, and the reactions I have, that is not instinctual.
The world says “whip up some inner courage to ‘carpe diem, seize the day’ ”. God says, “I made you in My image, and I redeemed you. Seize Me; I am the Truth that the meaning of your life is already secure.”
God is trying to teach me to shift my eyes upward from my immediate circumstances to His gentle presence and example, showing me how He has purposefully placed me here in this place , with these people, for a certain number of days that only He knows, in this current season . There’s to be a purpose to my days, and simply going through the motions to meet the needs of this current life isn’t the extent of it. Jesus always blended practical religion… Feeding the hungry, healing the sick, conversations… with the greater purpose to bring the kingdom of Heaven to men , to remove sins and guilt, and to glorify His Heavenly Father.
I pray “ help me to use my time wisely today for the work that You have given me to do, exuding a peace from You living in my heart and mind and doing things that honor You and draw people around me into Your presence. Help me to marry the mundane tasks of life and my finite time on planet Earth with your eternal timeline and your eternal dream to draw all people to You.”
So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
The result of knowing my days are limited, makes me aware how frail my life really is, and how dependent I am on Jesus to redeem me from this life that is sure to end one day. To be taught by God can lead from a life that ends to a life that never ends. All because of God’s marvelous grace. Proverbs 4, james 1:5, John 3:16.
Yesterday, in class, we talked about this subject. (Funny because I did not know what was coming next; that's why it's not by chance that we get into this reasoning now). After all, we have a single purpose for living: eternity! Can we help this mysterious Force that keeps us alive for this purpose?
Without eternity in our minds, this life that we are living is likened to those of animals which die and no hope of resurrection. This hope of resurrection ad eternity will drive us to proclaim, "teach us to number our days so that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom"
Welcome to the conversation Daniel. Salvation has a whole lot more to do with the present than we like to give credit for. It is not all just eternity and everlasting life, but a fulfilled and fruitful life now. When we read the Gospels we find Jesus talking about living a meaningful life now as much or more than about future eternal life.
I think that is in essence pretty much the same as what I wrote, Brigitte. Eternity and the present are linked.
Jesus said, I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. He will be with us every moment of the day, if we ask him to, and he cares about even the little things - because to him, as the creator, everything is little.