Psa 90:12-17 “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” – Part 3

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

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Psa 90:13 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
Psa 90:14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psa 90:15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
Psa 90:16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
Psa 90:17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Verse 12 of Psalm 90 is really the key note of this entire Psalm where David was inspired to write “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”.

We’ve been looking at how the numbers in God’s word, specifically in the parable (1 to a 1000 and 1000 to 1) of 2Pe 3:8 point to judgment and how that judgment, which is upon the house of God is needful for us to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” who is the one who makes it possible for us “to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” throughout this life.

2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

This Psalm 90 really does point to the longsuffering spirit of our Lord who declares in 2Pe 3:9 that He is “is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” If we couple that verse with these two verses verses below, it should become very apparent that God is going to finish this glorious work within His people through the hope of glory that is Christ within us.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The phrase “as some men count slackness” of 2Pe 3:9-10 indicates those who say “My lord delayeth his coming” of Luk 12:45-47 or declare that the work is already done, that we are saved and that the resurrection is already passed (2Ti 2:18), which belief exists today within the hearts of those who believe in the “fullness now” doctrine. So much for dying daily, carrying our cross and enduring until the end. This spirit of either saying “My lord delayeth his coming” or the word of Hymenaeus and Philetus that “will eat as doth a canker [gangrene]… who concerning the truth have erred saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some”, who do not understand that we are raised in heavenly places, and we are buried with him by baptism into death daily (Eph 2:6, Rom 6:4).

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Luk 12:45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
Luk 12:46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker^G1044 [gangrene]: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

What God’s children believe is that we are raised every day in heavenly places (Eph 2:6) as a peculiar little zealous flock who have been given the faith to believe all things and understand that there is a life-long process in front of us where we need to apply our hearts unto wisdom, which words of life we are incredibly blessed to ‘see and hear’. We are not to despise the day of small things as God gives us wisdom and understanding which will convict us and lead us into the narrow way that is arrived at through repentance.

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Zec 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

2Co 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
2Co 7:12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
2Co 7:13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.

God’s children go forward and do good works from a good conscience that has been cleansed by the blood of Christ, which works are a gift from our loving Father of lights who is teaching us to number our days via the holy spirit, which process of numbering is very clearly described in Romans 8 for those who have been given those eyes and ears to see and hear.

1Pe 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
1Pe 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Romans 8 speaks about the work that God is doing, the work of our hands that God is establishing within us “and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it“. So as we look at the last section of our Psalm 90, we pray we will all be deeply convicted and confident that God will “let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us:” as His children in whom He is finishing that which he has started, making it beautiful in His perfect timing and perfect way.

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

(1 to a 1000 and 1000 to 1) Revealing once again that unless God’s judgments are in the earth, the world will remain set “in their heart” (1Jn 2:15-17).

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

It is of utmost importance that we consider what Christ endured so that we can be encouraged that we can drink the same cup of suffering and know that we can endure until the end, and we can through Christ endure all things and be not wearied or faint in our minds. Considering Christ has everything to do with considering His suffering as our suffering as the body of Christ, our communion, which is our bread that enables us to be strengthened and not grow weary and have hearts that fail in the critical hours (1Co_10:16 , Psa_104:14 , Mat_24:12 , Eph_6:13 , Pro_24:10).

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

If God will do this for us, we can consider ourselves of all men most blessed on this earth because by teaching us to number our days, He gets us up and out of ourselves and looking to the hope of our calling in Christ, a hope by which we are saved (Rom 8:24). That is why we need to apply our hearts unto wisdom, not just for some vain persuit of saying that we know, we know, when we know not as we ought to know.

1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
1Co 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Co 13:8 Charity never faileth: [2Ti 2:12-13] but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1Co 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come [Col 1:27], then that which is in part shall be done away.[how? 2Th 2:8]

1Co 8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
1Co 8:3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him. [Rom 5:5]

The application of wisdom is ultimately telling us that it is the doers and not the hearers only who are justified in His sight. It is through the judgment which comes to us throughout our sojourn in this life, where we learn obedience keeping the commandments of God from a pure heart, which is what love is.

Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

1Ti 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Psa 90:13 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

Psa 90:13 Do turn back, O Yahweh! How long? Show Yourself merciful over Your servants.” (CLV)

This is a cry made from those who are given to recognize their need to be delivered. There is no ‘once saved always saved’ spirit in this verse, but rather a recognition of the mercy that has been extended and continues to need to be extended toward the weak of the world. Romans 11 always sums up this issue of mercy very succinctly:

Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Rom 11:23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.

As I often mention, when you see the words “how long” the answer is always ‘just long enough’. God uses those difficult times of chastening and feeling like we are separated from His love to get us to be more introspective, judging ourselves whether or not we be in the faith, whether we acknowledge all His workmanship, the severity and the goodness of His hand, the grafting in and the taking away as it was written in His book.

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2Co 13:6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

Psa 90:14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

There is an ‘is, was and will be application’ to this satifying relationship which God has given His people today as we anticipate with great joy the fulfillment of having lost everything to follow our Lord, which is our reasonable service that enables us to rejoice and again I say “rejoice and be glad all our days”.

Mat 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

To be satified early or “satisfy us early with thy mercy” is to be experiencing the life of Christ today within us as a kind of first fruits who are being shown mercy so that we can then one day know the joy of sharing the life of Christ with all those who will come after us.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Psa 90:15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

This verse ties in very well with helping us understand that God is not “afflicting us” throughout “the years wherein we have seen evil” without a glorious purpose in mind, which is the same purpose for which Christ suffered in the flesh, and this should make us glad and will make us glad once we are mature enough to bear up under those stresses that are needful to fill up the afflictions of Christ within us.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Psa 90:16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.

“Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children” is the mystery that is hidden from the world and given to the elect to see and understand that it is the Lord who is ‘doing it’ both to will and to do. That is what it means to “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children”.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

God is the one who enables us to go from glory to glory, or from obedience unto obedience, and teaches us that boasting is excluded by the law of faith. That teaching is critical for his children to grow and is spoken of in Tit 2:12-13 as that [pahee-dyoo’-o] grace that chastens experience that is needful to keep our eyes on the “blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” which is the very next verse after Tit 2:12 (Heb 12:6).

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

G3811   παιδεύω   paideuō   pahee-dyoo’-o

From G3816; to train up a child, that is, educate, or (by implication) discipline (by punishment): – chasten (-ise), instruct, learn, teach.

Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Psa 90:17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

The beauty of the LORD our God is upon us when we have been granted to be that peculiar people who are zealous of good works, which fruit comes about as a result of God chastening us spoken of in verse 12, getting our attention as we look to the Lord in verse 13 and ultimately purifying unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works in verse 14 (Tit 2:14). It takes that hand of God in our lives in order to be His workmanship, or that pot which is marred in the hand of the Potter, becoming something new by grace and faith of Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-9).

Unless the Lord builds the house, the weary labourers toil in vain, and so much of the world is sacrificed in that regard to teach us that God is no respector of persons and that it takes His love shed abroad in our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts (Jer 17:9) to become sons and daughters who are being brought unto perfection in this age. So we do cry out as His children “let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us” and “establish thou the work of our hands upon us“. In other words, “build the house”, the workmanship of your hands, and keep us in a humble and contrite spirit so that we can be amongst those who have been given to overcome the conceit and envy that naturally abides in all mens hearts.

Psa 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

We are called and chosen of our Lord to demonstrate to the world that He is able to accomplish that which He has started within His people, and that it is through judgment within our earth that we will learn righteousness and be able to number our days and apply our hearts unto wisdom (Psa_90:12).

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.