When you read an obituary and see the entirety of a man's life condensed into a few short sentences, it can seem rather cold in its finality. If the person is someone you know, thoughts of your own mortality tend to rise to the surface.
That 'here today, gone tomorrow' wake-up call is expressed in the following verse ... For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. (James 4:14)
When old people think about the brevity of life and the certainty of their demise ... some become bitter, while others accept it with stoic resignation.
But elderly followers of Christ are in a separate category altogether. They anxiously look forward to a promised future ... beautifully expressed in their demeanor and countenance.
They think of death as 'going home' ... While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. (2 Corinthians 5:4)
David sought insight ... Show me my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. (Psalm 39:4-5)
He didn't mean, 'Lord, let me know exactly how long I shall live, and the date of my death' (God nowhere promises his people such knowledge). Instead, David's plea was, 'Give me wisdom and grace to consider my end and how to best spend my days'.
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