IBS Psalm 90:12 (1/28/14)

Inductive Bible Study Method for Psalm 90:12 (1-28-2014)

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

The previous IBS I did was on James 3:13-17 and it was about wisdom - what the differences were between godly wisdom and worldly wisdom, what the fruits were of the different types of wisdom, and how to receive wisdom from God. This verse in Psalms is stating that  by having God teach us the value of our days, we will gain a heart of wisdom. How do we gain wisdom? By tying the verses in James to this verse in Psalms, we see that we gain wisdom by being meek, not being self-seeking or bitter, being willing to let God work in us and asking Him to teach us to number our days.

This Psalm is all about the way God is outside of time and we are confined to it. So often, people are searching for something to fill the void in their hearts and they use many different things to fill it. If they aren’t repenting and believing on Christ, everything else is useless - and they’re just counting down the days until they die and land in hell. Others, like I used to be, are saved but not living their lives for Christ. They too are basically counting down their days, but they end up in heaven because they repented. 

I was counting down my days until I went to heaven - living my life for myself but still acknowledging Jesus as my Savior. What was I doing to further His kingdom? What was I doing to serve Him? Nothing, because I wanted to keep my mind and heart while giving my body and soul to Christ. “Teach us to number our days” means help us see the value of each year, month, week, day, hour, minute and second we are alive with His breath in our lungs. It means we ask Him to help us not take for granted, but take advantage of the time we have left to serve Him. 

Everything is a test. Every second counts. Every person we come in contact with is a chance to minister to and serve. I’m going to stand before God one day and give an account for how I used the life He gave me to give Him glory. I’ll watch as He sifts through my works - seeing which ones I did with a pure heart to serve Him and seeing which ones I did with selfish and prideful motives.

I rush through life sometimes, thinking about what I’m doing next and what’s happening tomorrow. I need to slow down and take a second to ask God what He wants to do with me. I need to stop moving so quickly that I forget what’s important. I have a problem with hurrying through my devotions. Its not about how much time I take to do them, its about gleaning from what I read and being silent before the Lord. I’m going to slow down during the time that I read the Word. 

The application for this IBS is to have my prayer partner ask me WHAT I learned from my devotions, instead of just asking me if I DID them.