“LORD, make me know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am.” – Psalm 39:4
Now this is a strange prayer in our youth-idolizing, age-concealing, death-denying culture! David prays that God would make him intimately aware of the fact that his days were numbered, that he would die, and that his life would be but a flicker in the grand march of time.
Why? Why would David pray this (at first glance) depressing prayer? Well, consider:
--- Contemplating our mortality reminds us of who we are vs. who God is … always an important distinction!
--- Remembering that we don’t know which day will be our last can encourage us to make each day worth living … for ourselves and for others.
--- Understanding that we will be called to account for our actions in the future can give us the impetus to change them in the present.
Ready? Let’s pray this prayer with David!