A God-Shaped Vacuum
The length of our days is seventy years
or eighty if we have the strength …
Teach us to number our days aright
that we may gain a heart of wisdom
Psalm 90:10,12
Almost 1600 years back Augustine wrote “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts find no rest until they find it in you.” There really is a God-shaped vacuum in every one of us that only God can fill.
Many, in fact, most people on earth today will come to the end of their time with nothing of lasting value to show for it. Many will live to see seventy; some will even live to see eighty.
The Psalmist was acutely aware of the transience of life. No doubt he had seen more deaths already than we would see in a lifetime. It was in the light of eternity that he prayed “Teach us to number our days”. The Psalmist realised that life is a marathon and not a 100 metre sprint. In a marathon you learn to pace yourself; the strides are even; your steady rhythm helps you give your best.
Why should we “number our days?” So we may “gain a heart of wisdom”. Wisdom to the Psalmist didn’t mean wise thinking. ‘Wisdom’ was always a practical word that meant a lifestyle displaying godly behaviour in every way. Living a consistently God-honouring life was to live in wisdom.
How do we start to “number our days?” We bring God into every part of every day. We bring worship into every part of every day. Nothing so changes the human heart as Biblical worship. Worship in time changes our priorities and changes our goals. Worship puts our world back together.
Make worship a vital part of your private world and God will re-order your public world in a miraculous way.
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