Psalm 139: My Days Are Numbered

One Year Bible: II Kings 1:1-2:25, Acts 13:42-14:7; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 17:19-21

My Days Are Numbered

All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
(Psalm 139:16)

How many days do I have left? I don’t know. No one does, except God. He knows the exact number of years, days, hours and seconds that I will occupy my address on Planet Earth; the exact moment that my death will occur.

Now that may not seem like a cheery thought to you, and in fact, most people would find that sobering, at best, and frightening, at worst. Not me. I find great comfort and security in knowing that God has my life so ordered that I will neither die a day sooner nor live a day longer than what has already been recorded in his book. You see, life and death are far above my pay grade, so I will happily let Father God take care of that department, thank you very much.

So if I truly and correctly understand this profound truth, then I am freed from the fear of death to fully live the life that God has planned for me. I can enjoy an intimate walk with the One who is intimately involved in each minor detail of my day (Psalm 139:1-4), who never lets me out of his sight (Psalm 139:5-8), whose fatherly hand guides my every move (Psalm 139:9-10), and who is never limited or intimidated by my circumstances (Psalm 139:11-12). In fact, God is so involved in my life that he was even there at the moment my mother and father conceived me in love, and while I was in the womb, he superintended even the most infinitesimal details of my physiological and temperamental formation.

God knows me! He knows everything about me. He planned me, built me, watches over me, can steer me back on track when I wander from his purpose (Psalm 139:23-24), can be completely trusted to keep me safe until the Divinely allotted numbers of days ordained have expired and then take me to the next life that he has prepared for me. And he has done such an inexpressibly great job with this life I can’t even begin to imagine what’s on tap for the next!

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand” (Psalm 139:6, NLT), but it won’t keep me from enjoying this day and praising the One who is in charge of it!

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts
are restless till they their rest in thee.”

~Augustine

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7 thoughts on “Psalm 139: My Days Are Numbered

  1. thank you for this post.. I am searching for encouraging scripture for my niece, who is a wonderful Christian and just found out she may have Hodgkin s lymphoma. I have always loved this song too.

  2. I was doing a search on that Scripture and your commentary came up. I really appreciated your take on it because it brought me comfort to know God already knows about our future!

    My husband has Stage 4 Stomach Cancer, and we're praying for a miracle that he's completed healed. We pray daily and know that God has everything under control. We have a blog, too, at: http://watersfamilyforum.blogspot.com or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/prayingforRyanWaters.

  3. This verse came to me when my Son died an young death also now my grandson. This gave me comfort to know there is a number of our days ordained before we were born. In this affirmation it relieved me of any stress or blame, that I could have, should have, or didn't do anything to change their (untimely) death. Knowing that God had that all written down before they were born relieved me from guilt or possible responsibility perceived, or fault finding. How could I possible bring any blame on anyone, and that settles it. GOD IS IN CONTROLL still sadness, but knowing God and his mercy for his own, truly takes out the sting. Thank you I wait to see them again in that day!!!!!

    • Wow…may the God of all comfort wipe away every tear from your eye. Not only in eternity, but also in time, may you see through divine revelation the unassailable wisdom of his sovereignty in these very difficult losses.

  4. Please pray for my daughter Theresa, who just lost her son to alcoholism and she had worked intensely with him for recovery, she is not well and of course devastated. At the same time she is selling her business because it is so stressful to her health. Pray for a quick sale to release some pressure as she is so grieved and frail. She needs comforting, she is a strong believer.
    Thank you.

  5. I love this, my uncle has been placed on Hospices, and I was asked to do the funeral.
    I prayed and asked the Lord what to speak about, that would bring peace and comfort to the family, and bring Him glory.
    I kept hearing my days are numbered, not sure where to find this I got on the internet and your documentary came up.
    Thank you, I believe this will help those who don't understand what is taking place in their lives and why.

    May God bless and keep you.

    Sincerely:
    Your sister in the Lord