“Who can understand the power of your anger? But your fury is consistent with the fear that is owed to you. Teach us to number our days in such a way that we bring a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:11-12)
Anger is a powerful force. Think how many lives have been taken because of people’s anger toward each other. Think how much property has been destroyed when anger gets out of control. Think how anger between political parties hinders the resolution of important issues. How many relationships haven’t been permanently ruined due to anger over past wrongs?
How powerful is God’s anger? People don’t like to think about God getting angry. But let’s look at the evidence of how powerful God’s anger really is. His anger against sin completely obliterated the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. His anger against sin destroyed almost the entire world’s population in a worldwide flood in the days of Noah. And yes, there is a place of eternal torment called hell, and yes God will send people there who reject him. Read Jesus’ own words in Matthew 25:41-46. God doesn’t tolerate sin, even though people are increasingly tolerating sin. The evidence from God’s Word is clear. God hates sin. This has always been God’s position concerning sin. God will bring sin under judgment.
That’s why Moses prayed in Psalm 90 that the Lord would teach us to number our days and to give us hearts of wisdom. We learn to number our days, not so we know how many days we have in this world. God wants us to realize our earthly lives could end at any moment. Such knowledge will lead us to daily repent of our sins, asking God to be merciful to us so we don’t fall under his anger toward sin.
The hearts of wisdom God wants us to have will lead us to take our sins and God’s anger against sin seriously. Those same hearts will also take God’s grace seriously. God’s grace is the totally undeserved love that he shows to sinners. God doesn’t want anyone to face eternal judgment for their sins. God wants all to be saved and to come to eternal life in heaven. To achieve this goal, God sent his own Son into the world to take our place under his judgment. On the cross, Jesus faced all of God’s anger against sin. In doing so, Jesus washed us clean of our guilt. All who trust in him as their Savior are now covered in the righteousness of Jesus.
Hearts filled with wisdom from God realize that only Jesus, the Son of God, makes us clean through the precious blood he shed on the cross. The wisdom that this grace brings will convince us that we don’t want to live in our sins any longer. May our Lord teach us to number our days and give us hearts of wisdom so that we daily turn away from sin and turn to Jesus for our salvation.
— The Rev. Greg Tobison is pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Hutchinson.
