“Teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12)
Across the pond, just this week, President Trump gave his own assessment of a significant milestone: his first 100 days in office. His view is that it has been the greatest 100 days of any president of the USA – more than that – it has probably been the greatest 100 days ever in the history of the USA. There are, however, several pollsters who have marked the 100 days as having the lowest approval rating of any US president in modern history over the last 80 years.
Never mind 100 days: In 1886 in the UK a Liberal Party politician named Joseph Chamberlain said that “In politics, there is no use in looking beyond the next fortnight.” And in his 1964 election campaign in the UK, Harold Wilson famously said that “A week is a long time in politics.” It’s now widely quoted that “Twenty-four hours is a long time in politics.” This all reminded me of Elon Musk’s infamous ill-considered and imperious email from the DOGE to every government employee asking them to respond within 24-hours and immediately give an account of “five things you have achieved at work this week.”
Never mind 100 days: a single day can be critical. A single day can turn your world inside-out and upside-down. A single day can alter the course of your whole life. A single day can change history. It all got me thinking and praying this week about the importance and the potential impact of a single day. Never mind 100 days: how should we handle one day? All this led me to Psalm 90 which reminds us that our days are finite in number: every day is a gift (vv.9-10) and that God can do in a day what would take us a 1000 years (v.4).
The prayer of v.12 – “Teach us to number our days” – has some considerable relevance then. I can fritter a day away and achieve nothing in it or I can a day, every day, as a gift from God and think about how I can partner with God to achieve His agenda. How will we make today matter?