Friday, April 13, 2007

Lord, Teach Me to Number My Days
...that I may get a heart of wisdom

a birthday prayer
"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." -Psalm 90:12

Numbering our Days
Instruct us to set store by time, mourning for that time past wherein we have wrought the will of the flesh, using diligently the time present, which is the accepted hour and the day of salvation, and reckoning the time which lieth in the future to be too uncertain to allow us safely to delay any gracious work or prayer. Numeration is a child's exercise in arithmetic, but in order to number their days aright the best of men need the Lord's teaching. We are more anxious to count the stars than our days, and yet the latter is by far more practical. That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Men are led by reflections upon the brevity of time to give their earnest attention to eternal things; they become humble as they look into the grave which is so soon to be their bed, their passions cool in the presence of mortality, and they yield themselves up to the dictates of unerring wisdom; but this is only the case when the Lord himself is the teacher; he alone can teach to real and lasting profit.

Thus Moses prayed that the dispensations of justice might be sanctified in mercy. "The law is our school master to bring us to Christ", when the Lord himself speaks by the law. It is most meet that the heart which will so soon cease to beat should while it moves be regulated by wisdom's hand. A short life should be wisely spent. We have not enough time at our disposal to justify us in misspending a single quarter of an hour. Neither are we sure of enough life to justify us in procrastinating for a moment. If we were wise in heart we should see this, but mere head wisdom will not guide us aright. (C.H. Spurgeon)


Getting a Heart of Wisdom
"Moses speaketh of wisdom as if it were physic, which doth no good before it be applied; and the part to apply it to is the heart, where all man's affections are to love it and to cherish it, like a kind of hostess. When the heart seeketh it findeth, as though it were brought unto her, like Abraham's ram. Therefore God saith, "They shall seek me and find me, because they shall seek me with their hearts", Jer 29:13; as though they should not find him with all their seeking unless they did seek him with their heart. Therefore the way to get wisdom is to apply your hearts unto it, as if it were your calling and living, to which you were bound aprentices. A man may apply his ears and his eyes as many truants do to their books, and yet never prove scholars; but from that day when a man begins to apply his heart unto wisdom, he learns more in a month after than he did in a year before, nay, than ever he did in his life. Even as you see the wicked, because they apply their hearts to wickedness, how fast they proceed, how easily and how quickly they become perfect swearers, expert drunkards, cunning deceivers, so if ye could apply your hearts as thoroughly to knowledge and goodness, you might become like the apostle which teacheth you.

Therefore, when Solomon sheweth men the way how to come by wisdom, he speaks often of the heart, as, "Give thine heart to wisdom", "let wisdom enter into thine heart", "get wisdom", "keep wisdom", "embrace wisdom", Pr 2:10 4:5 8:8, as though a man went a wooing for wisdom. Wisdom is like God's daughter, that he gives to the man that loves her, and sueth for her, and means to set her at his heart. Thus we have learned how to apply knowledge that it may do us good; not to our ears, like them which hear sermons only, nor to our tongues, like them which make table talk of religion, but to our hearts, that we may say with the virgin, "My heart doth magnify the Lord", Lu 1:46, and the heart will apply it to the ear and to the tongue, as Christ saith, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," Mt 12:34 (Henry Smith)

6 comments:

4given said...

We pray you have a blessed birthday!

ann said...

Happy and insightful Birthday!
interesting, that the title and motto of this post is the same as the motto of my blog ;)

Terry Rayburn said...

Here is an encore presentation of a comment we made on an encore presentation of a recent post, but always worth saying again...

Happy Birthday Steve!

Have a great day in the Lord, dear brother. We love you.

Terry, Michele and Michael

donsands said...

"when a man begins to apply his heart unto wisdom"

That's always the challenge, and struggle. Satan doesn't want us to do this.

Thanks for all you have done, and are doing, and shall do in the service of our Savior and Lord. You're truly a man "after God's own heart".
Have a great Birthday.

SJ Camp said...

Thanks to each of you for your kind and sweet thoughts. I had a nice warm birthday time at my home with all my kids and about ten very good friends.

So thankful to our faithful Lord and His sustaining grace throughout the years (all 52 of them).

Grace and peace to you all,
Steve
2 Cor. 3:5

Dr Yinka Opadiya said...

Today is my birthday and the Lord gave me this verse so I googled it. And now this beautiful exposition!Thanks for sharing it. God bless.