How brief?

Psalm 39

Life is so short. Recently, there has been the news of tragedy. No, I am not talking about the death of celebrity. These names you probably do not know. The result of a car crash and in a matter of seconds a young mother is removed in death. A flash and a young teen in seemingly insurmountable problems chooses death for himself. What’s the point?

Life is short. This is the question of the ages. Literary and philosophy have wrestled with the meaning of this brief life. King Macbeth sighed these despairing words:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (act 5, scene 5 Macbeth by William Shakespeare).
How long do we have anyway? Is there a number on our days? As surely as there is an exact measure on the ruler and an exact weight on the scales there is an exact timeframe for our lives.

King David is no Macbeth. But apparently David considered in the time of trouble the same question as our fictional king. However, he does not do this in the same manner. “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed you have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before you; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah” (Psalm 39.4-5).

Instead of Macbeth’s despair King David looks to God to lift his burden. David wrestles with the question of mortality realizing his frailty, his weakness, even his vulnerability and comes to the conclusion that his entire life is in the hand of God. God is in the one in control. The life we live here while brief is to be lived for Jehovah.

So what’s the point? Since we know how short life is and the fact that we simply are not in control of the next breath lets live with intentionality. Do not get caught up in the meaningless, in the mundane, or even the trivial. Don’t let the small keep you from the enormous. Don’t allow worry to rob you of the opportunity of praise. Don’t be limited by your fragility and forget to live for God and eternity.

Make the most of today: love, laugh, lean on Jesus! Praise Him today. Present him today to a searching soul. Today really can be the best day to serve the Lord.

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. Deliver me …” (Psalm 39.7-8a).

Always Enthusiastic,
Dr. Rusty Newman