The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10)
The Days Of Our Lives
Moses lived an incredible 120 years, but his life was short. The years of a man’s life in the early days of the earth filled hundreds of years, and then they died. It matters not how long a man lives but how he lives the length of his life. Age is a number to mark the march of time. It has nothing to do with length of age, serving only as a reminder of life’s brevity. The old must die, and the young can die. Whatever the days of life will be is undetermined, but the reality of its end must be remembered as certain. No man lives forever in this life. Eternal life is what comes after death.
Adolescence is a time of great energy and innocence. The youthfulness of the teen years leads to young adulthood, where marriage is found, and families are begun. Through the growing years of family life comes the exhausting activity of caring for a family and preparing them for a life of their own. Soon, children leave home and begin families of their own. Life settles into looking forward to retirement. The birthdays multiply. Time creates the burdens of older age. Moses suggested the days of life to be about seventy years, if not eighty by reason of strength.
Young children live in an innocent world of fantasy that belies life’s seriousness. God made them to have pure hearts. As we grow older, the focus shifts to the brevity of life and the reality of its end. The spectrum from innocent children to fully aware older adults reflects the days of life that all share. Death can come for anyone at any age, but growing older guarantees the reality. Moses said the days of life are seventy years with the possibility of eighty. Modern science and medicine have stretched life expectancy into the late 70s and 80s, but that’s still a small dash of life between two dates.
Reaching the seventh decade of life reminds the heart how close one comes to death. Some live in their hundreds but not far beyond. If a man lives to be 110 years, the age of seventy is less than half a life; far less. Most do not reach the age of 100, which means a person has lived 70% of their life at best. Life becomes a matter of focus. What is discovered is that the reality of life and death is no more different at 70 than it was at 35. Life is short. Eternity is dependent upon this brief, short, and fleeting life.
Moses said there was nothing to brag about reaching the age of 70 or 80. To boast is only labor and sorrow because death comes soon regardless. The view is narrowed, but it remains the same. He lived fifty years beyond the seventy mark in good health; his eye was not dim, nor his strength abated, but he still died. The days of a man’s life are vanity because, while it may seem like many years for a man to live to be nearly 100, the days of life are short. What brings joy to the heart facing the final days of life is knowing that all God has said about eternity is about to burst upon the scene. It is poetic that Moses describes death as flying away. Life is cut off, and then the soul flies away. Being found in Jesus Christ assures the heart that when the shadow of death surrounds the soul, the light of God’s grace will usher the soul, by the hands of angels, to the bosom of Abraham.
