01.01.23 - Psalm 90:12

Open your Bibles to Psalm 90:12.  •This morning I’ll be preaching a sermon in light of the new year.  •I don’t usually title sermons. But I did this one. Here it is:  •Happy New Year: We’re All Going to Die.  That’s not a threat. I’m not going to do anything wild.  •It’s not a threat. It’s a fact. We’re all going to die.  •And the sooner we reckon with that fact, the better off we’ll be, spiritually.  Question for you: How would you live today if you believed that you would die tomorrow? •It would change things. I know that for sure.  •You would live as if eternity was real because it would be breathing down your neck.  •Your head would become incredibly clear with regard to what does and does not matter.  •I hope that you would live as if you were about to stand face-to-face with the Lord Jesus Christ, as if you were about to take the step into eternity. Because that’s what you would be getting ready to do.  •I hope that you would live wisely, focusing on what matters from an eternal perspective. From God’s perspective.  But, really, tomorrow could be the day that you die.  •It could be today.  •And if not today or tomorrow, I promise you that the day of your death is coming at you much faster than you think. •Much, much faster than you think.  •In general, you never hear of people saying, “I’ve had enough time. And now I’m out of here.” •You do, however, hear many stories of people near to death saying, “I thought I would have more time.” Death waits for no man.  •Death comes as God wills it.  •Death must obey the Lord.  •And death is coming for each one of us sooner than we’d like to think.  Just in the last two weeks, through acquaintances, I have heard of no less than five people dying. •And among them were: •An old man in his seventies or eighties.  •A young man of the age of 22.  •A little girl of the age of 6.  •No man can know when he will die, only that he will die.  In 2022, there were about 141,000 deaths in the state of Ohio.  •In the United States there were about 3.3 million deaths.  •And worldwide, there were about 70 million deaths. (That’s about two deaths every second.) •I found a website that took averages and put them on a clock of sorts that counted it all.  •And the world clock made my stomach hurt. The number just kept turning over and over and over. And each number was another soul that had stepped into eternity.  •And most of them did so without Christ.  •Many of them did so having no idea that the day of death was coming so soon.  These are the things that are usually on my mind with the coming of a new year: •I’ve lived another year. And who knows how many more I have left?  •Maybe this year will be the year. Maybe fifty years from now. Only God knows.  •But I do know this: Death is coming for me and for you. And it is bringing eternity with it.  Now some would call me grim and dark and morbid for thinking about these things.  •But the Word of God calls it wise.  •We would all do well to reflect on the truth that we will die sooner rather than later.  •And that is why I’ve chosen Psalm 90:12 for my text this morning.  I hope that, by God’s grace, He will teach us to number our days.  •And, teaching us, He would grant us wisdom to live for what matters in the coming year and in preparation for the day of our deaths.  •May God put His blessing on the preaching of His Word this morning.  If you would, and are able, please stand with me for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.  Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (PRAY) Our God and Father,  We come before you now asking for help.  Please, grant us to receive your Word with faith this morning. And make us wise.  Help us to believe your Word and live in light of it.  Help us to see. But that will only happen if you teach us and grant us spiritual sight.  And so, we ask that you, by your Holy Spirit, would set your Word home to our hearts this morning.  Teach us. Grant us faith to believe your Word. Sanctify us by your truth.  We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake.  Amen.  1.) This verse is a prayer. Really, as the superscription tells us at the beginning of Psalm 90, this whole Psalm is a prayer.  •But here Moses prays and asks God to “…teach us to number our days.” •If nothing else, the first thing that this verse does is reminds us that our days are numbered, doesn’t it? •If we are to number them, they are indeed numbered.  •We will not live forever. At least, not in this body and this world as it currently is.  When I was a little boy, my grandfather would often tell me that we die a little more each day.  •He would say that every day brought us closer to death. And that every baby is born to die.  •That’s a fact. But, sadly, not a lot of people talk to children this way.  •I remember my niece talking to her dance instructor about her pet dying and saying, “I’ll die someday, too.” And her instructor said, “No you won’t.” And Natalee stood her ground and said, “Everyone has to die.” •Amen. This is just the way things are.  Brothers and sisters, we are passing away every day.  •We are for but a brief moment and then we vanish from the earth.  •We are here, as Moses tells us in v10, for seventy or maybe eighty years if God grants us a long life.  •And that may sound like a long time to those who are young. But ask anyone in this room who is fifty or sixty and they’ll tell you that seventy or eighty years is not a long time.  •I’ll tell you that it’s not a long time. I’m nearly 31 years old. And, according to this Psalm, my life is almost half over if God grants me a long life.  •And I promise you, it hasn’t taken long to get here.  •Our time on earth is a drop in the bucket.  •IT IS NOTHING. It’s a mist. It’s a vapor.  We will all return to the dust form which man was made, as v3 tells us.  •As vv5-6 say, we are like grass that is renewed in the morning but withers away by the evening.  •As James 4:14 says, “For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” •We are here today and gone tomorrow.  •This is a huge theme of this entire Psalm that leads us to v12 that we are considering.  And why do we die?  •Because of God’s wrath.  •vv7-11 says,  “For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.  For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sight.  The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.  Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?” It is because of God’s wrath that we must die.  •And why does God have wrath against mankind? Why do we have the sentence of death hanging above us? •Because of sin. We all die because of sin.  •By the sin of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, guilt for sin and a sin nature has come to us.  •And by our own actual sins, even further guilt has come upon us.  •We are born sinners, sinners in Adam, and then become actual sinners. And so, we all must die.  •As the Apostle says, “For the wages of sin is death.” •Both in body and soul, we must die. Both physically and then spiritually under the eternal wrath of God, we must die because of our sins.  •We die here and then have to face a judgment before God where we will be found guilty and consigned to an eternity of condemnation and wrath from God.  But before I go any further, I must say this to you: •In spite of our sin and deserving damnation, God offers salvation to sinners.  •In grace upon grace that we will never fully fathom, He offers eternal salvation to sinners, that we might avoid the wrath to come.  •God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, truly God and truly man, to bear the wrath of God in place of all those who would trust in Him.  •The Lord Jesus Christ went to a Cross, by the will of God, in order to suffer the wrath and judgement and punishment that we deserve for our sins.  •And, by His blood, by His suffering and death as a substitute in our place, atonement for our sins has been made on our behalf.  •Justice has been served on Christ. The payment for sin has been made for all who will come to Him.    •As we often sing, “But on that Cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” •And then, as proof that the forgiveness of sins had been accomplished for all who believe, God raised Jesus from the dead on the Third Day.  And now, God offers eternal salvation to all who will repent of their sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them.  •God, in His great kindness toward wicked and undeserving men, has provided a way of salvation for us.  •And that salvation from the eternal wrath of God is found ONLY in Jesus Christ, the ONLY Savior of sinners.  •And God offers this salvation to each and every sinner.  •Christ did this work of salvation for all who will believe.  •You will die because of sin, but you do not have to go to Hell if you will only look to Christ and believe God’s promise to save you because of what Christ has done on your behalf.  Don’t be a fool. Your death is coming.  •And you must be reconciled to God or suffer an eternity of punishment.  •But God is so kind that even today He offers you Christ as your Savior.  •LOOK TO HIM IN FAITH AND LIVE! God offers eternal salvation for all those who turn to Christ in faith.  •But, nevertheless, all men, being tainted by sin, must still die once in the body.  •But whose who are made right with God through faith in Christ will receive the salvation of our their souls at death, and then the redemption of their bodies on the Last Day when Christ returns.  •Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins in every single way.  •But again, though that is all glorious and true, all men must still die. Please, listen to me very closely, I’m laboring this point on purpose.  •Everyone, male and female, young and old: YOU WILL DIE.  •It is the most certain fact of human existence. We see it in the world. And we see it reaffirmed in Scripture: •Hebrews 9:27 says, “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” •We all die. And after death, there is another life of either eternal splendor and joy with God, or an existence of eternal suffering in a lake of fire.  But we don’t think much about that truth.  •And we certainly don’t usually live like that is true.  •But we should.  •Consider Ecclesiastes 7:2: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” •It is better to go to a funeral than a birthday party.  •Why? Because the funeral is where we all end up. And we need to lay that truth to our hearts.  •We must consider our deaths. It is beneficial for us to do so. And we’re fools if we don’t. BUT most people are fools. And, sadly, this includes many Christians at times.  •We don’t always consider our own mortality.  •And so, we often find ourselves living for things that don’t really matter.  •Such people are living foolishly. They’re living as if they’ll be here forever or that there is no life to come after this one.  2.) And it’s because of our human foolishness that, as our text says, we need to learn to “number our days.” •Now what does it mean to “number our days?” •This phrase is packed full of meaning.  It means that we are to think deeply about our own mortality and why we are on this earth.  •To number our days means to evaluate the use of our time in light of the brevity of life.  •It’s to keep our coming death on the forefront of our minds, so that we do not waste our lives.  •To number our days means to ask ourselves daily, “What am I doing? Does it matter? I’ll be gone soon. What am I doing with my life? It will all soon be over. Am I ready to meet God? Am I living for what matters eternally?” Brothers and sisters, we need to recognize every day how fleeting our lives are.  •We need to consider how transient we are.  •And then we need to seriously consider HOW WE ARE LIVING in light of that.  •We need to learn to live as if this day could be our last day, because we know that our days are numbered but cannot know when the last one will come.  •And to live with the knowledge that today could be our last day WILL cause us to live differently.  NOTE: Do you do this? Do you number your days? •Or do you just mindlessly go through each day without a thought to eternity? Without a thought to future rewards? Without a though to future judgment? Without a thought that everyone you know is just as mortal as you? •Though you would never say it out loud, or even to yourself, because you’re not a total fool, do you nevertheless LIVE as if you’ll be here forever? •Do you waste your days in things that simply won’t matter then thousand years from now?  •It is absolutely necessary for us to learn to number our days.  But notice that we don’t just need to try to do this.  •While it will take some conscious mental effort and, as we’ll see later, some changes in our lives, nevertheless, this isn’t something that we can just white-knuckle ourselves to do.  •This verse is a prayer. “So TEACH US to number our days.” •Who will do the teaching? God, of course. He is the One being addressed in this Psalm. •So this verse is petitioning GOD to teach us something in our own hearts.  •So we must pray for GOD TO TEACH to number our days. We must ask Him to put these things on our minds and hearts. We must ask Him to help us to evaluate our lives each day.  •We can’t do this on our own. God must help. We are ignorant. And God must teach us.  We can’t work this up naturally. God must put it in our hearts.  •We are so immersed in our day-to-day responsibilities, many of which are legitimate, that considering our deaths does not naturally happen.  •And so, we need GOD HIMSELF to remind us of our mortality and what really matters in life and in death.  In short, we need to ask God to help us to number our days BECAUSE WE ARE SO PRONE TO FORGET that our lives are running out.  •We get busy, get caught up in work, kids, plans, home improvements, family problems, health issues, pleasure-seeking, and all the rest, and simply FORGET.  •I’m not making excuses for us. I’m just highlighting the reality of the situation.  •We’re often stupid and forget that we won’t be here forever. And so, we live without a thought to eternity.  •And, as with all other works of godliness, God Himself must help us.  •As the Apostle says, God must work in us, “both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13) John Calvin once said something thought provoking about how men are terrible at numbering our days: •“Even he, who is most skillful in arithmetic, and who can precisely and accurately understand and investigate millions of millions is nevertheless unable to count seventy years in his own life.  •It is surely a monstrous thing that men can measure all distances around themselves, that they know how many feet the moon is distant from the center of the earth, what space there is between the different planets; and, in short, that they can measure all the dimensions both of heaven and earth; while they cannot number seventy years in their own case. •It is therefore evident that Moses had good reason to beseech God for ability to perform what requires wisdom which is very rare among mankind.” Brothers and sisters, we need God to help us number our days or we will forget.  •We won’t do it. •We will focus on anything other than the shortness of our lives and the life to come.  •We will subconsciously lie to ourselves.  •We are so sinful that we will deceive ourselves into subconsciously believing that we’ll live forever and, so doing, never think about eternal things.  •And so, we must cry out daily to be reminded by God that our time is short and eternity is long.  •And know this: God will help us. He really will. For He loves to give wisdom to those who ask.  •As James tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5) We must cry out to God, as Jonathan Edwards did, and say, “Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.” •That is the only way that we will truly learn to number our days. God must help us.  •And so, we must ask. As our brother James reminds us again, “You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2) NOTE: Please, commit yourself to praying this verse on a regular basis.  •It’s an example to us. It’s recorded for us to sing and pray. That’s why God gave it. So use this verse and this Psalm rightly.  •Cry out to God each day, “Teach me to number my days so that I may get a heart of wisdom.” •Obey the text and make this your prayer.  3.) Now we come to the REASON that we want God to teach us to number our days. •Our text says, “So teach us to number our days THAT WE MAY GET A HEART OF WISDOM.” •If, by God’s grace, we learn to number our days, we will become wise. And that means we will live wisely. We will live differently. We will live in a manner that pleases the Lord.  •And that’s what we want. We want this kind of wisdom.  But this tells us something important. I don’t mean to labor the point, but I think this needs explicitly mentioned: •If we do not learn to number our days, we will be FOOLS.  •If we do not learn to number our days, we will be no better than the unbeliever on a day-to-day basis. Our lives won’t look much different.  •And, to go one step further, if a person does not number their days AT ALL, then he is an unbeliever because such a person has not yet considered the judgment and eternity to come and can’t have fled to Christ for salvation.  •Brothers and sisters, we cannot afford this kind of foolishness.  But if God teaches us to number our days, we will be come wise.  •That is, if we will listen to God’s Word, if we will cry out to Him and ask for Him to teach us, if we will listen to Him and take to heart what He says about our morality and what matters in life and death, then we will become wise.  •Wise with regard to what?  •Wise with regard to how we LIVE EACH DAY.  •We will receive wisdom to live by right priorities, according to God.  •Or, to speak more biblically, we will receive wisdom to live each day in the FEAR OF THE LORD.  Now, what does it mean to live in the fear of the Lord? •It is recognizing who God is. And who you are in light of that. That you are nothing compared to Him. That you exist solely for the praise of His Name and to do His will with your entire life, for He alone is God. And, therefore, He alone is what matters.  •The fear of the Lord is recognizing that you were made FOR HIM. And every beat of your heart is supposed to bring Him glory.  •It is having continual reverence for God. Living with an eye to Him in all things. Living in a state of mind where you exchange your wants, attitudes, goals, whatever FOR HIS, for He is God and you are His creature.  •To live in the fear of the Lord is to live with a daily recognition that He is the one “with whom we have to do/give an account.” (Hebrews 4:13)  •It’s to live with a daily knowledge of the truth that you will one day give an account to God for how you lived.  •To live in the fear of the Lord is to know and live as if the eye of God is always upon us, even when we are hidden from all others.  •It is live knowing that His smile is worth more than the smile of the world. And that so long as He smiles upon us, it doesn’t matter if the whole world frowns.  •To live in the fear of the Lord is to live knowing that there is eternity after this life to be either gained with God or lost in Hell.  •It is to know that God is supreme, that He alone is greater than all and ought to be the One we live for with singular devotion. And then living like it.  Brothers and sisters, THAT IS WISDOM.  •True wisdom is forsaking all false notions of human autonomy, and focusing on GOD, HIS WILL, and ETERNAL MATTERS.  •If we get this wisdom, if we learn to number our days, we will begin to live with true purpose. Not a worldly purpose that we have made for ourselves, but a true purpose that have eternal ramifications.  •We will begin to live in light of eternity.  •We will begin to live in the light of the next 10,000 years instead of thinking only of the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year, or the next decade.  Surely, we would all agree that this is the true way to live.  •Surely, we would all agree that this is wisdom.  •Oh, may we cry out to God for help to number our days! •And may we take heed to His Word and live in the fear of Him all our days! 4.) But here is the real question. I’ve only talked about things in theory. But what does this practically look like?  •How might we live differently if we get hearts of wisdom? •How might we live differently if we truly learn to number our days? •Or, to set it home more closely, how WILL WE THEN LIVE? I want to no set some things before you to consider for the coming year. (And for the rest of your life.) •Things to commit yourself to in light of the reality of eternity and our soon-coming deaths.  •NOTE: The short list I’ve made is by no mean exhaustive. I’ve simply thought of some broad categories that I want to set before you. (7 things) 1. FIRST AND FOREMOST, if you understand that life is short and eternity is long, you will run to Christ.  •I’ve said it already, but I must say it again: God offers salvation from His eternal wrath for all who will trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.  •Christ has borne the punishment that each of us deserves for our sins. He has satisfied divine justice on behalf of those who will believe. And He has been raised from the dead as proof.  •He is the Son of God, truly God and truly man, and He alone can save sinful men.  •God offers only one way for forgiveness and eternal life. And Jesus Christ is “The way, the truth and life.” And no man comes to the Father except through Him.  If you know that you’re a sinner and deserve the wrath of God, •If you know that your life is but a vapor, here today and gone to tomorrow, •And if you know that eternity is longer than you can fathom,  •Then you must run to Christ in faith.  •Anything less than this is the height of foolishness and will end in your eternal destruction.  •Your time is running out. But today is the day of salvation. Today God offers you eternal life in Jesus Christ.  •LOOK TO HIM AND BE SAVED! •Entrust yourself to Jesus who saves us from the wrath to come. 2. I now turn my attention to those who have already come to Christ by faith and have received salvation.  •If we understand that our lives are short, and that living a life pleasing to the Lord is all that truly matters, we will DEDICATE OURSELVES TO MASTERING THE WORD OF GOD TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITIES. •We will devote ourselves to reading, hearing, and meditating on His Word.  And catch this: We will not do this just to fill our heads and give us something to talk about with our fellow Christians.  •The Word of God is so much more than that.  •We will devote ourselves to the Scriptures SO THAT we can know what God would have us do. How He would have us live.  •We need divine wisdom, we need divine revelation if we are to know the mind of the Lord so as to live in a way that makes Him smile upon us.  •We need to know the Book of Books if we are to prepared to be meet Him.  •And wisdom, the kind of wisdom we need to do this, is found ONLY IN THE BOOK.  Christian, devote yourself to the Bible.  •Read it. Have someone or a device read it to you.  •Think about the sermons you hear preached.  •Seek to master the Word and be mastered by it so you believe, think, and do as God would have you.  •Life is short. We are ignorant. Death is coming. And we need to know how to live before we die.  •To the Word and to the testimony! Be in the Book.  3. If we have numbered our days and recognize our human frailty and mortality, we will DEVOTE OURSELVES TO PRAYER.  •Why?  •Because we know that we are nothing and we are weak. We know that we are dependent upon God for everything.  •We will commit ourselves to seeking God’s face and mercy in prayer because we know that we can do NOTHING ourselves.  We will devote ourselves to intercessory prayer.  •We will pray daily for others, for only God can help the mist and vapor that is mankind.  •We will cry out for God to have mercy on the unbelieving, for their lives are short and eternity will soon be upon them as well.  •We will ask the Lord to make us holy and sanctify us and our brothers and sisters, so that we might honor Him in all things.  •We will ask the Lord to grow His Church and convert His People, for only He can save sinners.  •We will pray for peace that we might do our duty to God and obey Him without the hardship of persecution.  •We will cry out for divine wisdom, because we want to live a blameless life before meeting our Maker.  •We will call upon the Name of the LORD for everything if we realize that we are weak and soon-fading men.  Brothers and sisters, our mortality should remind us of our weakness.  •That we cannot control the day of our death reminds us that God is the One who is ultimately in control of all things.  •And THAT FACT should put us on our knees for the Almighty God asking Him daily for strength and grace for ourselves and others.  •Oh, Christian, devote yourself to prayer, for you are nothing but a mist.  4. If we have numbered our days, we will give ourselves over to the work of evangelism.  •Why?  •Because, having numbered our days, we see that the days of all men are numbered and they will soon be gone as well as us.  •And there is eternity awaiting them as well as us.  We will declare Christ to any and all who will listen to us speak His holy Name.  •We will tell of sin, wrath, judgment, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Savior to everyone who will hear it.  •We will declare the message of salvation to sinners, if we have truly numbered our days.  •For the unbeliever, as well as we, are going to die.  •Their lives are fleeting, just as ours are. They too will have to step into eternity.  •And they need the Savior just as much as we do.  •We dare not hoard Christ for ourselves. He came to save an innumerable multitude.  •And we do not want any man to stand before God without the Lord Jesus Christ.  •As God gives us ability, and as God gives us opportunity, we will give ourselves over the declaration of the Gospel, for time is running out for all men.  5. If we have numbered our days, we will commit ourselves to TEACHING OUR CHILDREN the way of the Lord.  •We know that our children’s days are numbered the same as ours.  •Just as we recognize that we will soon die, we also recognize that they will, too. And they need to know the fear of the Lord.  •They need to know Christ as Savior and Lord, just as like we do.  •But they, just like all of us, are naturally ignorant of the things of God. And they need instructed, just as we do.  •Mom and Dad, you won’t be here forever. You won’t always be around to teach them. You won’t always be around to instruct them in the Faith and in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  So, if you know that you and they are both dying every day, YOU WILL TEACH THEM.  •You will dedicate yourself to giving them a religious education.  •You will commit yourself to raising them up to know and love and fear the Lord, their Maker, with whom they have to one day settle accounts.  Brothers and sisters, if we have numbered our days, we will raise our children as if they too, will die someday.  •Because THEY WILL, just like all of us.  •God willing, your babies will bury you. But someone will someday bury them, too.  •And they need to be ready to meet their Maker. They need Jesus Christ.  •So teach them! 6. If we have numbered our days, we will STRIVE TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE.  •We will be in earnest to kill our sin and practice righteousness, as the Word of God instructs us.  •We will live as if God sees all things, for He does, and that we will one day face Him and have to give an account for literally everything.  •We know that even believers will have to give an account to God.  •We are saved by Christ, yes, but we will still have to give an account of some kind.  And do we want to be ashamed to any degree on that Great Day? •Do we want to have to give an account for ungodliness that could’ve been avoided? •Do we want to give an account for holding grudges while the Lord forgave us? •Do we want to give an account for greed while the Lord gave us everything we had? •Do we want to give an account for living in anger while the Lord has called us to peace? •Do we want to give an account for impure thoughts while the Spirit of Lord dwelled within us? •Do we want to stand before the Lord and give an account for our sins? •Surely not. None of us do. So let us live in such a way that we will not be ashamed to meet our Lord when we stand before His judgment seat.  Furthermore, we want eternal rewards, don’t we? •Jesus promises them to the pious.  •Jesus promises some kind of reward, that I can’t explain, that is beyond salvation, for those who were faithful to Him.  •Some kind of eternal reward awaits the faithful servant.  •Do we want to give that up in order to hold on to foolish living for seventy or eighty years? •Surely not.  •We want the praise of God for eternity.  So, even for the Christian, we must live as those who will one day have to give an account to God.  •And that day will be here soon.  7. If we have numbered our days, we will DEDICATE OURSELVES TO BEING AS HELPFUL AS WE CAN TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.  •We will seek to find ways to be a blessing a blessing to the Household of Faith.  •We will be as good, kind, faithful, and helpful to the physical and spiritual health of those whom the Lord Jesus gave His life.  •These are the People whom He loves. And He promises to reward those who give even a cup of cold water to one of these for His sake. (Matthew 10:42) These are the people we will be with forever.  •These are the people we will spend eternity with.  •So we should love them now. We should help them now.  •Why? Because we are doing them eternal good. We are helping them get Home. We are helping them on their journey to Heaven as we head there with them.  If we have numbered our days, we see that making it to Christ is the goal.  •Persevering in the Faith is the goal. And we need help. And we want to help others make it, too.  •And so, we will dedicate ourselves to helping our brothers and sisters in whatever ways we can: •Counseling, giving encouragement, correcting error, issuing rebuke, loving them with tenderness, helping financially, teaching them, and every other good way you can help someone.  •And, again, we will do this because we are doing eternal good to others as we help them on their way to Heaven.   I could go on with other things. But I think that will be enough for this morning.  •But what I want you to see is that those who have be taught by God to number their days, those who have been made wise by the Lord, WILL SPEND THEIR DAYS DIFFERENTLY! •Yes, there is still monotonous, day-to-day, legitimate, normal things of life that we must tend to.  •BUT, our sights are set on much higher things than the things of this short life and soon-fading world! If we have numbered our days, we will think of ourselves differently.  •We will not primarily think of ourselves as assembly line workers, or CPAs, or business owners, or teachers, or clerks, or laborers, or pastors, or even parents or grandparents, or anything else.  •We will think of ourselves as dying men who are living for something better and greater than this world.  •We will think of ourselves as dying men who have an eternity to gain or lose.  •We will think of ourselves as dying men who are passing through this world and looking for a heavenly city.  5.) So, in conclusion, NUMBER YOUR DAYS.  •Ask the Lord to teach you to number your days.  •Get a heart of wisdom. And live for what matters! •Be prepared to die. And do all the good you can while you are here, to please the One who made you.  •LIVE FOR WHAT MATTERS! And, please, DO SOMETHING WITH THIS! •Don’t nod your head and then go home and change nothing.  •That would be the exact opposite of the wisdom we’re to learn from this text! •That would foolishness and a belittling of God’s Word! DO SOMETHING WITH THIS! •Have you come to Christ for salvation? If not, DO NOT DELAY! Repent and believe on Him! •Do you devote yourself to the Word? If not, ask for God’s help and strive to be disciplined and take up the Book! •Do you commit yourself to daily prayer? If not, MAKE THE TIME and call upon the Lord! •Do you take opportunities to tell others of Christ? If not, open your mouth and speak! •Do you teach your children the Faith? If not, do your job as their parent and instruct them! •Are you killing sin and striving to life a holy life? If not, put your sin to death and live for Christ! •Do you take an interest in your brothers and sisters? If not, stop being selfish and love the brethren! •DO SOMETHING WITH THIS!  •Live as those who have been made wise by God through His Word! And if you are not yet wise, CRY OUT TO HIM FOR WISDOM UNTIL YOU ARE WISE! Brothers and sisters, number your days, pray for a heart of wisdom, and live as dying men. •May God teach every one of us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.  •Amen.