Verse of the Day for May 17

Psalm ninety is the prayer of Moses, and most of it is about how short life is. Grass that withers by evening. Years that fly away. By the last verse you half expect despair.

Instead, Moses asks for two things in a particular order. First, Let thy work appear unto thy servants. Then, at the very end, establish thou the work of our hands. God's work first. Ours after, and only as it rests on his.

He asks for that second thing twice. yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. A man who had watched a whole generation die in the wilderness wanted his labour to last, and he knew he could not make it last himself.

An open door is exciting. A new job, a new ministry, a new city. But underneath every new door sits the question of whether anything we build there will remain. Moses does not answer by working harder. He prays for the beauty of the LORD our God to rest upon the work.

If you are walking through a new door this month, a shop you are opening on a busy street or a first lecture, say the prayer twice, as Moses did. Some prayers are worth repeating.

Ask to see God's work before you ask him to bless yours.

What lasts is what he establishes.