The Transitory Nature of Life

“Lord, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how transitory I am.” (Psalm 39:4 CSB)

Something in us really does not enjoy thinking about the end of our lives. The morbidity of such thoughts is distasteful and unpleasant. We would prefer not to think about them at all.

So, why on earth would David pray and actually ask God to reveal to him the end of his life and the number of his days? Maybe the answer has nothing to do with morbidity at all. Maybe it has more to do with life.

What would the impact be on you to have a greater realization of the transitory nature of your life? What would your response be if you know just how temporary your life is?

At least somewhere near the top of the “list of impacts” would be to focus on what really matters most in life and way less effort and time on what matters less.

Knowing and loving God, walking with Him from moment to moment, and living out His will for our lives so that He is honored is what matters more than anything else. Acting out our faith in Jesus and our love for Him is of supreme importance, and that comes to the forefront when we are confronted by our transitory nature.

Very similarly, understanding how temporary we are would greatly impact how we relate to our family members and others. There is a great deal of nonsense that occurs relationally among family members and among Christian brothers and sisters at times. It is nonsense because it really makes no sense. To be sure, strife and stress do occur among relationships. Interestingly, relationships can, at the same time, create both our greatest joy and our greatest pain. But allowing strife and stress to go on makes no sense. The only thing that does make sense – in light of the transitory nature of our lives – is forgiveness, reconciliation, and making things right, as much as it depends on us. We who have been forgiven by God and reconciled to Him know that we must do the same for one another. This God expects of us.

Maybe David was right on target when he wrote this prayer.

Lord, We add our voices to David’s in this prayer. Teach us also how transitory we are in this life. Help us to live our lives focused primarily on what matters. Help us to not postpone what needs to be done in this day. In Your Name. Amen.