How fleeting I am!

Ps. 39:4

O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am.

David expressed the struggle of maintaining silence in the presence of evil either from within or from without. He didn't want to sin with his tongue so he figured his only course of action was to guard his tongue, guard his tongue with a muzzle. He was physically preventing himself from speaking. Even though he was mute, his action was of no avail. His distress was magnified, and his heart became hot!! He was passionately involved and could not quench the fire. As he was thinking through his situation, he asked God to let him deal with his humanity, to know the end of his day, his fleeting existence. God showed him that his life was a mere breath and a shadow, so all this distress and turmoil was for nothing. Is there a reason to struggle so over the details of life? No, like David I need to wait on the Lord! For in the Lord, he hoped, and I hope. What an example for me as I try and handle the details of this life. Even when I guard my mouth, the fire often burns within me! My feelings of hurt, injustice, anger, etc. often burn out-of-control. What is my recourse? I need to realize that this earth and all areas related to it are only a breath, easily extinguished. I must remember that my hope is in God, in realizing that He is the sovereign God who planned every tiny detail of my life. God is calling for a change of my my thinking, my perspective not just a shutting of my mouth. He wants me to rest in Him and realize that life's trials and irritations are there for my good, for my growth; in fact, they actually make me know the end of my days. They take my eyes of the temporal and shift it to the eternal. David ended by asking God to hear him and give him peace in his particular situation. For me, a cry for peace is the solution to my trial. But releasing those unholy emotions is so hard. It takes my surrender to experience His peace. It takes His grace to pry my fingers lose so that I can grip Him instead of myself.

Father,

Teach me the foolishness of lingering over the injustices of this life. Help me to keep this temporal life in its proper place and give me Your perspective. Help me to see Your hand in all that You have placed in my life.

In Jesus name,

Amen