We can face the reality of our own mortality because we trust in God.

我们因为信靠上帝，便可以坦然面对死亡。

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

求祢指教我们怎样数算自己的日子，好叫我们得着智慧的心。-诗篇90篇12节

Over the last few years, two members of my family have faced life-threatening diagnoses. For me, the hardest part of supporting them through their treatments has been the constant uncertainty. I am always desperate for a definitive word from a doctor, but things are rarely that straightforward. Instead of being given clarity, we are often asked to wait.

过去几年，我有两位家人罹患了致命的疾病。对我而言，在陪伴他们度过治疗的这段期间，最困难的一件事情就是什么都无法确定。我巴望着医生能给个确定的答案，但总是事与愿违。医生给我们的并不是明确的答案，而是无尽的等待。

It’s hard to bear the burden of uncertainty, always wondering what the next test will reveal. Will we have weeks, months, years, or decades before death separates us? But regardless of disease and diagnosis, each of us will die one day—things like cancer just bring our mortality to the forefront instead of letting it hide in the recesses of our minds.

无法确知事情的发展，带来了难以承受的压力，让人不断猜想下一次的检查会出现怎样的结果。我们还有多少时间相聚？是几周、几个月、几年，或是数十年？但不论我们患了何种疾病，或得到什么诊断，终有一天，我们每个人都必须面对死亡。癌症之类的疾病，只不过是突显了人类必会死亡的事实，让人不能对此继续抱持驼鸟的心态。

Faced with sobering reminders of our mortality, I find myself praying words that Moses once prayed. Psalm 90 tells us that though our lives are like grass that withers and fades (vv. 5–6), we have an eternal home with God (v. 1). Like Moses, we can ask God to teach us to number our days so we can make wise decisions (v. 12), and to make our brief lives fruitful by making what we do for Him count (v. 17). Ultimately, the psalm reminds us that our hope is not in a doctor’s diagnosis, but in a God who is “from everlasting to everlasting.”

面对人人必有一死的事实，我也像摩西那样祷告。他在诗篇90篇说，我们生命虽如草一般枯干（5-6节），但上帝却是我们永远的居所（1节）。我们也可以像摩西一样，求上帝教导我们数算自己的日子，让我们凡事都能做出明智的抉择（12节），并求上帝坚立我们为祂所做的工，让我们短暂的生命结出丰盛的果子（17节）。此外，这篇诗篇也指出，我们的盼望并不在于医生的诊断，而是在于“从亘古到永远”的上帝。

How can we best spend the time we’ve been given?

我们该如何善加运用上帝所赐的日子？

Psalm 90New International Version (NIV)

BOOK IV

Psalms 90–106

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.

诗篇 90Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified) (CUVMPS)

颂主恩永久不易

90 神人摩西的祈祷。

1 主啊，你世世代代做我们的居所。
2 诸山未曾生出，地与世界你未曾造成，从亘古到永远，你是神。

叹人生转瞬即逝

3 你使人归于尘土，说：“你们世人要归回。”

4 在你看来，千年如已过的昨日，又如夜间的一更。
5 你叫他们如水冲去，他们如睡一觉。早晨他们如生长的草，
6 早晨发芽生长，晚上割下枯干。
7 我们因你的怒气而消灭，因你的愤怒而惊惶。
8 你将我们的罪孽摆在你面前，将我们的隐恶摆在你面光之中。
9 我们经过的日子都在你震怒之下，我们度尽的年岁好像一声叹息。
10 我们一生的年日是七十岁，若是强壮可到八十岁，但其中所矜夸的不过是劳苦愁烦；转眼成空，我们便如飞而去。
11 谁晓得你怒气的权势？谁按着你该受的敬畏晓得你的愤怒呢？
12 求你指教我们怎样数算自己的日子，好叫我们得着智慧的心。
13 耶和华啊，我们要等到几时呢？求你转回，为你的仆人后悔。
14 求你使我们早早饱得你的慈爱，好叫我们一生一世欢呼喜乐。
15 求你照着你使我们受苦的日子和我们遭难的年岁，叫我们喜乐。
16 愿你的作为向你仆人显现，愿你的荣耀向他们子孙显明。
17 愿主我们神的荣美归于我们身上，愿你坚立我们手所做的工——我们手所做的工，愿你坚立！

整理：于姊妹