Life is transient, Part II

David is painfully aware of the shortness of his life; he says so repeatedly in this psalm! He is suffering, but instead of getting angry, he wants to learn the lessons that God wants to give him.

We've talked before about how easy it is for us humans to forget the lessons we learn. As soon as we are past the obstacle, or as soon as the suffering or sickness is gone, we revert to our old mindset. We roll back into thinking life is good, we are strong, and we have plenty of time here on earth! 

In verses five and eleven, David mentions that every person at his or her best is a "mere breath." That word in the Hebrew is used thirty-six times in Ecclesiastes! There, it is translated "vanity," and refers to something that has no substance . . . a sand castle when the tide comes in, our breath on a frosty day, or a stream of soap bubbles chased by a child. 

David compares his short life to the eternal God:

You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you. (Psalm 39:5a)

To our grandkids, being seventy, eighty, or ninety years old may seem like a long, long life. We might seem ancient to the younger set! But when we view the fleeting years of our lives in the light of God - Who has always been, and always will be -- our years are nothing! David had a similar epiphany here in Psalm 8:

When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place, 
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them? (Psalm 8:3-4)

I think I've mentioned before in these posts that we are blessed to live "out in the country," and have a pasture where we can stand an look up at the night sky -- makes us feel like a tiny speck in time, compared to the eternal God Who spoke the universe into existence! On a very clear night (and with the aid of an app on my phone to locate it), we can spot the Andromeda Galaxy. It's the most distant object visible to the naked eye, and if we traveled at the speed of light, we'd travel for 2.2 million years to get there. It's truly a lesson from the Lord to show us the "extent of our days."

Life is transient in view of death, too, though we would usually rather not dwell on it. Whatever men and women do, it all comes to nothing at death. They work hard, they scheme, they save, and some of them fight and backstab and ruin others' lives . . . they amass huge fortunes; they gain power; they achieve fame. But they die, as all of us do, and their bodies go into the grave. What was the point?

“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
    in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
    without knowing whose it will finally be. (Psalm 39:8)

Since we cannot escape death, we should not live as if we can. But maybe we are thinking to ourselves, "I know that death is certain, but I'm young yet! I have plenty of time."

This story from Guideposts seemed like a good one to post here:

A Scottish pastor was burdened for the soul of a businessman who occasionally attended his church. The man readily admitted that he was not born again. Whenever the pastor would try to talk to him about his soul, the man would reply that as long as he was in good health, he would wait. Besides, he was just too busy to think about such matters.

So one day, the pastor decided to startle the man into realizing that he couldn’t afford to keep dodging the matter of where he would spend eternity. So he walked into the man’s office without knocking or calling in advance. When the startled man looked up, the pastor asked abruptly, “Did you expect me?” “No, I didn’t,” the man replied. The pastor then said grimly, “What if I had been Death?” Then he spun around and walked out.

The haunting question kept echoing in the ears of the businessman. It demanded an answer. By the end of the day he had trusted in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. (With appreciation from “Our Daily Bread.”)

Death is certain - and unexpected. We don't actually know if we will be alive to read and study here at this blog tomorrow, or the next day, or next year. So, we have two choices. We can live for ourselves, with the old "eat, drink and be merry" attitude. Or we can live for the Lord -- that's actually the only option that has hope! That's what David wanted to do . . . and we will look at his instructions next time.