Reading Psalm 90, I am reminded of my frailty and our frailty – and yet our strength – gifted by God. We are amazing bodies – and yet we do run out of steam…

I was surprised (even though I should not have been) at how TOUGH it was to get my trash cans out from the embedded snow and ice – wow – plus they were full of junk that we had tossed in for 2 weeks while not being able to get them to the curb due to the snow and ice and them being stuck – I put it off – but this week made the effort and dug them out – whew!

In doing so, I remembered that I was grateful that my friend, who acknowledged her frailty, moved into single living apartments for seniors last fall – before this classic winter of snow and ice. She and I had discussed her issues with these trashcans – which are taller than some people I know – and that the smaller ones were not yet available – and wow yeah – nearly impossible to deal with if you didn’t have the strength. Even the cans themselves crack and lose wheels in the rough handling of the trucks – it is a price we pay for throwing stuff away – and for accumulating too much of it ahead of time too…  That is who we are – we just do – me too…

Frailty in us is such the reminder that God is NOT frail – God is forever – and God is God – from everlasting to everlasting. And time passes so quickly that we should ask the Lord to number our days – and that we are just a short time on this earth like every person: “In the morning they are like grass which grows up: In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.”

So we pray compassion from our Lord – we pray “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – and we pray for ourselves and for others that “we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us…”

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

Yes Lord, establish the work of our hands – and bring us strength for the lives we lead (and for the trash cans too).

Amen

—
Psalm 90 NKJV 

The Eternity of God, and Man’s Frailty
A Prayer of Moses the man of God.
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Lord! How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.