Carpe Diem!

With 19 project notes currently strung above my monitor, this morning's devotions from Psalm 39 seem particularly apt.

These project notes are not mere reminders. They are not personal projects (like [shudder] TAXES). They are sticky notes about separate work projects that hang (very nearly literally) over my head.

This morning I woke, filled with determination to work hard toward removing at least one of those notes. In God's providence, I read Psalm 39 for my morning devotions.

The Psalm is a great reminder that we have been given a limited number of days on earth. We must make every hour of every day count for the Lord.

O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made may days
a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing
before you.
Surely all mankind stands as
a mere breath! (ESV, 4-5).

The Psalmist asks:

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you (7).

Waiting on the Lord is a continuing motif through the Psalms. David reminds us that we wait on the Lord with hope.

While we work for the Lord and wait on Him, we need to be aware of our sins and repent from them.

Deliver my from all my transgressions (8a).

If we fail to repent, we can expect God's heavy hand of discipline:

Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth
what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! (10-11).

When we repent, we can expect God's mercy. But we must not delay in recognizing and repenting of our sin while we work and wait. Our hearts must break over the sin in our lives.

Hear my prayer, O LORD,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more! (12-13).

Today is the day to recognize our sins. Today is the day to repent from it. When God's hand of discipline weighs on us, we must cry to him for deliverance and peace. We are on this earth for such a short time. We are only passing through, sojourners on a upward path toward the celestial city. Time is short: Seize the day!