God's affirmation

Psalm 90:12-17 (The Message)
12 -17 Oh! Teach us to live well! Teach us to live wisely and well! Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—and treat your servants with kindness for a change. Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we'll skip and dance all the day long. Make up for the bad times with some good times; we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime. Let your servants see what you're best at— the ways you rule and bless your children. And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

In these verses we hear David’s petition of prayer to God. First David asks we learn to use wisely our days of life because they are limited. Second David asks for God to be with us and not stand away due to our sin, but instead hurry towards us because of our repentance. David looks for the joys and blessing of God knowing that he provides mercy. Lastly David asks that God’s work be confirmed in us.



As I turned 29 in life I suddenly sensed mortality and that my days of life were limited. Maybe it was because I was aware my next birthday would take me into another decade. There were things I had wanted to accomplish in my youth, but many of those dreams were slipping away. I dreamed of being a pilot in the Air Force. I had a scholarship to attend college under the Air Force ROTC program. I was looking forward to this dream. As I was about to turn in the scholarship papers I took an eye exam and found my vision was imperfect. The astigmatism in my eyes was going to prevent me from becoming a pilot and with that my dream slipped away.

I had friends in school that died at an early age for various reasons so I knew life wasn’t permanent. I had been a witness to those who passed away from disease, accidental events, suicides and even murders. I knew my days were numbers just like everyone else.

God helped me come to terms with my mortality by realizing I still had days to live. I could not dwell on the past and what had or had not happened. Instead I had to look to the future and trust God would be there with me. I had to keep moving forward doing what I was doing. I had to work and provide for my family. I realized God even had plans for me to work on.

God wants to confirm the work we are doing in our lives. God wants to show us we have a purpose. We need to pray as David did and ask God to be with us. God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do.