Deeper Reflection
HOW CAN WE SERVE GOD WITH A HEART OF WISDOM? The Psalmist teaches us at least three ways: (1) Number our days (v.12). Live an examined life. Set aside a quarterly day of prayer to pause and take stock of your life. Reflect often on your mortality and the brevity of life. Our days are fleeting. Have you been living righteously in the fear of the Lord? What have you been doing with your time? Have you been making the most of your opportunities to serve God?(2) Seek God’s presence (“Return, O LORD!”, v.13). God is our ultimate source of satisfaction, joy and gladness. Communing with Him, our soul is deeply satisfied. Experiencing His steadfast love and hearing Him speak His reassuring promises to us, our heart is filled with joy and gladness, notwithstanding the journey of pain and suffering that we sometimes must go through. Afflictions are often necessary to humble, refine and mould us. They cause us to put our hope in God.(3) Depend on God to establish the work of our hands (vv.16-17). If we immerse ourselves in work without reference to and dependence on God, success will elude us. However, when we prayerfully work, God directs and guides us with His wisdom. He gives power and favour. He opens doors and supplies resources. He makes possible what seems impossible. Success is not doing what the world tells us to do. Success is not building our own kingdom, but God’s Kingdom. True success is doing what God wants us to do, in His way, according to His timing and for His glory.
