by Pastor Paul Dugan
Cultivate a heart of wisdom, using this three-part rhythm…
Part I: Become present to the presence of God:
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Ps 90:14)
Pause for silence before him. Slowly inhale, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Slowly exhale, and release any burdens you are carrying into this new day. Repeat this breathing prayer until you have brought your whole self - your thoughts, imagination, desires, and body- (“as-is”) into the presence of God.
Wisdom in the Hebrew Scriptures is not the same thing as "smarts." It is possible to be a smart fool. Neither is wisdom a “secret knowledge” possessed by a mystically-gifted elite. Wisdom is the practical skill of making good choices in reverence before God, in the everyday stuff of life.
Psalms of wisdom often include short memorable sayings, contrasting light with darkness, good with evil, wisdom with foolishness, or righteousness with wickedness.
Part II: Slowly read Psalm 90 (NLT) out loud:
Lord, through all the generations
you have been our home!
2 Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from beginning to end, you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust, saying,
“Return to dust, you mortals!”
4 For you, a thousand years are as a passing day,
as brief as a few night hours.
5 You sweep people away like dreams that disappear.
They are like grass that springs up in the morning.
6 In the morning it blooms and flourishes,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We wither beneath your anger;
we are overwhelmed by your fury.
8 You spread out our sins before you—
our secret sins—and you see them all.
9 We live our lives beneath your wrath,
ending our years with a groan.
10 Seventy years are given to us!
Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear, and we fly away.
11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger?
Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.
12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom.
13 O Lord, come back to us!
How long will you delay?
Take pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love,
so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery!
Replace the evil years with good.
16 Let us, your servants, see you work again;
let our children see your glory.
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval
and make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!
Part III: Use your own words to pray Psalm 90 back to God:
"I thank you God for giving us clear boundaries- for defining for us what is true and false, good and evil, wise and foolish. And thank you for giving us the freedom to choose the good!
"I lament the sorrow and pain in my life/world that has resulted from unwise choices (my own or the choices of others)…
"I bring to you the choices that are in front of me/us today…(ex, in how I invest my time, my words, my relationships, my money, my abilities, vocation, body, etc.)
The psalms were originally written as lyrics. They have been sung by the people of God throughout the history of Israel and the church. Take time to listen to a version of Psalm 90 set to music…
From the album, I Will Not Be Shaken by Steve Bell (2015). stevebell.com
For links to individual guides for more than one hundred different psalms click here.
For more on the Psalms:
Here is an introduction to the Book of Psalms.
For a list of psalms by literary style (genre) click here.
For an introduction to the narrative arc of the psalms, see Spirituality of the Psalms, by Walter Brueggemann.