Psalms 90:1-17
The beginning of a new year is a good time to "take stock". Looking back, the believer can gratefully exclaim: "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place . . ." (v. 1). As to the present, the believer can measure the short duration of his existence down here and ask God to teach him how to number his days in order to obtain a wise heart (v. 12). This wisdom, according to Ephesians 5:15-16, will cause us to seize our opportunities (redeeming the time, or making the most of every opportunity, as it says in other translations; see also Colossians 4:5). Yes, let us use these years, which pass away like a tale that is told for the Lord (v. 9).
As for you, unconverted reader, this year of grace, which could possibly be the last, gives you another chance to accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour; seize it without wasting any more time.
This "prayer of Moses, the man of God" will be on the lips of a repentant Israel in the last days. But the redeemed of the Lord, who know His great love, can even now ask: "O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days" (v. 14). An apt desire at the outset of this new year!