Psalm 90:12 - Timekeeping

With limited desk space, I rediscovered just the thing: a tiny clock--only 1.25"  high. The clock has stopped; it needs a new battery. I could have Big Ben outside my house, but that wouldn't make any difference if it's not running. Regardless of the size of the clock, regardless of whether the clock is ticking or not, time keeps moving forward.

Other things are reminders of the passage of time. All I have to do is look in the mirror and see there's no hair on the top of my head and even my beard is turning gray! Behind me is a library card catalog that's probably over a hundred years old. On my wall is a photo from the Forum in Rome, with ruins that are thousands of years old.

I have a handful of old books. Not ancient, but one was published over two hundred years ago:

The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian State and Worship. By I. Watts, D.D. Boston: Manning & Loring, 1808.

Isaac Watts paraphrased Psalm 90 as a 20-stanza hymn in three parts. Can you imagine singing a 20-stanza hymn today? We know the first section as "O God Our Help in Ages Past." 

Watts entitled the first section as "Psalm 90, 1st Part. Ver 1-5. Man frail, and God eternal" (page 148) One stanza reads:

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.

The second part {Ver 8, 11, 9, 10, 12} is entitled, "Infirmities and mortality the effect of sin; or, life, old age, and preparation for death." (page 149) You don't see too many contemporary worship videos with that introduction. But it's Biblical; it's the subject of this psalm.

One stanza accurately summarizing a lesson of the psalm:

"Our souls would learn the heavenly art
T'improve the hours we have,
That we may act the wiser part,
And live beyond the grave."

The original -- Psalm 90:12 -- is more succinct. And it's our prayer for today:

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Amen. (English Standard Version)