The Brevity of Life

Psalms 39:4-7
(4) "O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
(5) Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah.
(6) Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
(7) "And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

The Psalmist here understood something very profound. Our lives are completely meaningless apart from a Creator. If the world is truly as old as the Naturalists claim then we are here for barely a speck of time. Relatively speaking, it will take you several lifetimes to read this short post.

If we are nothing more than a blob of chemicals I don't understand why we should ever do anything good for anyone else. Why shouldn't we be completely motivated by self? Why even get upset about the problem of evil? The world is a cruel place and only the strong survive it. That doesn't seem so bad to us until we fall out of the group of the strong. Then we want some help. But why help those who need it when it will be to our disadvantage?

I am glad to know a personal Creator who gives my life meaning. Of course, that meaning is bound up in His glory. By myself I really am just a blob of chemicals. My own desires need to be aligned with His desires. He is jealous for His glory, which is only fair because as the Creator He is the only one worthy of that kind of honor.

This is something on which I need to spend some time in reflection today. It is such a privilege to know God and it is only possible because of the love He displayed at Calvary.