Teach Us to Number Our Days

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place

    in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

“So teach us to number our days

    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Lord! How long?

    Have pity on your servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

    and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Let your work be shown to your servants,

    and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

    and establish the work of our hands upon us;

    yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalms 90:1-2,12-17 ESV)

The following song speaks of us dwelling in Beulah Land. And the word “Beulah” means “thou art married.” And, it is often considered a symbol of our heavenly dwelling with our husband, Jesus Christ. We are his bride, and he is our husband. The word is found in Isaiah 62:4, which says, “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.”

So, who is this speaking about under the New Covenant? It is speaking about all who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, who have been crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. We are those who are pursuing our Lord daily, who deny self, who are dying to sin daily, and who are following our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant).

[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-32; Luke 9:23-26] 

For when we believe in Jesus Christ, we enter into a marriage covenant relationship with him. He becomes our husband and we become his bride (male and female), and now we live to please him and no longer to please our sinful flesh, in practice. And now he lives within us in the person of the Holy Spirit and we are to be in fellowship with him. Sin is to no longer be our practice, but righteousness and godliness and obedience to our Lord are to be what we practice, as his followers. For this is the life of a Christian.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 5:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

So we want the Lord to teach us to number our days that we may get hearts of wisdom. We must not take God and his word lightly, but we must take every promise, and every condition for every promise, and every warning given to the church seriously and to act accordingly. We are to consider that none of us knows how long we will live or if tomorrow will ever come for us. We can’t just assume that we will live to our old age and then die. And I am getting up there, for I just turned 74 years of age the last day of the year.

We must accept the disciplines of the Lord in our lives as for our good, even though painful. For when he disciplines us with trials and tribulations, they are ultimately for our good to teach us wisdom, and to teach us his ways, and to train us in righteousness and holiness and to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Titus 2:11-14). For we were created in Christ Jesus for good works God prepared for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).

So, we are to walk in the ways of the Lord in obedience to his commands. And we are to be the people of God he created us to be, and in good times and in bad times. We must not let our faith falter just because we are called upon to suffer for the sake of righteousness. For through our suffering we learn obedience and patience and steadfastness. And we learn to rely on God and not on ourselves. And we grow to maturity in Christ and we develop godly character and wisdom so that we can walk in his ways and not in sin.

For God called us to himself so that we will serve him with our lives and not self. He has an assignment for each one of us to fulfill who have trusted in him as Lord and as Savior of our lives. And we are to be fulfilling that God-given assignment in his power and strength and wisdom. And all of us are to be sharing the truth of the gospel with other people, and we are all to be encouraging one another daily in our walks of faithful obedience to our Lord, and we are to caution one another against falling back into sin.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

Dwelling In Beulah Land

By Miles C Austin (1911)

Far away the noise of strife upon my ear is falling;

Then I know the sins of earth beset on every hand;

Doubt and fear and things of earth in vain to me are calling;

None of these shall move me from Beulah Land.

Far below the storm of doubt upon the world is beating,

Sons of men in battle long the enemy withstand;

Safe am I within the castle of God’s word retreating,

Nothing there can reach me, ’tis Beulah Land.

Let the stormy breezes blow, their cry cannot alarm me;

I am safely sheltered here, protected by God's hand;

Here the sun is always shining, nothing there can harm me;

I am safe forever in Beulah Land.

Viewing here the works of God, I sink in contemplation;

Hearing now His blessed voice, I see the way He planned;

Dwelling in the Spirit, here I learn of full salvation,

Gladly I will tarry in Beulah Land.

I'm living on the mountain, underneath a cloudless sky,

I'm drinking at the fountain that never shall run dry;

Oh, yes! I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply,

For I am dwelling in Beulah Land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mob1aWZfApo

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