How does Job 14:6 connect with Psalm 90:12 on life's transience? Opening the Text Job 14:6: “Look away from him and leave him alone, until he has put in his time like a hired man.” Psalm 90:12: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Job 14:6 – A Cry for Breathing Room • Job pictures life as a brief contract: like a “hired man” on a limited shift. • His plea—“leave him alone”—highlights how fragile and tiring our short earthly assignment feels. • The verse underscores that our span is fixed by God; we cannot extend it. (See also Job 7:1; Job 14:5). Psalm 90:12 – A Call to Count Our Days • Moses shifts from complaint to petition: “teach us to number our days.” • Recognizing life’s brevity is meant to produce “a heart of wisdom,” not despair. • The psalm’s context compares human years to grass that “in the morning springs up new, but by evening it fades” (Psalm 90:5-6). Threading the Two Passages Together • SAME REALITY: Both texts accept an unchangeable limit set by God on human life. – Job: a hired worker with a defined term. – Psalm: a finite number of days to be counted. • DIFFERENT RESPONSES: – Job’s lament seeks relief amid suffering. – Moses seeks instruction so that limitation becomes wisdom. • SHARED INVITATION: Recognize transience, then respond rightly—whether by honest lament (Job) or by wise stewardship (Moses). Practical Takeaways for Today • Admit limitation: we are “hired workers,” not owners of time. • Use numbered days wisely: plan, prioritize, and pursue what pleases God (Ephesians 5:15-17). • Balance lament and learning: bring pain to God like Job, yet ask for wisdom like Moses. • Live alertly: “You do not know what your life will be; you are a mist” (James 4:14). Cascading Witnesses from the Rest of Scripture • Psalm 39:4-5 – David echoes the request: “Let me know how fleeting my life is.” • Ecclesiastes 12:1 – “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” • 1 Peter 1:24-25 – “All flesh is like grass… but the word of the Lord endures forever.” These passages join Job 14:6 and Psalm 90:12 in proclaiming life’s brevity and urging us to invest every allotted day for God’s enduring purposes. |
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