{"id":14327,"date":"2026-04-18T22:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T02:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/?p=14327"},"modified":"2026-04-18T23:01:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T03:01:43","slug":"the-precious-gift-of-life-a-wisdom-psalm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/?p=14327","title":{"rendered":"The Precious Gift of Life – A Wisdom Psalm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Teach us to number our days,
\nthat we may gain a heart of wisdom.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Psalm 90:12<\/p>\n

I’ve been thinking about my mortality lately – and that calls for a wisdom psalm.<\/p>\n

Wisdom Psalms<\/a> in Scripture, like the one quoted above, like to look at the big picture and our place in it. When I try to write one, I like to think of them as Pep Talk Psalms, reminding me of what I know and believe. (Because I don’t like to claim to have wisdom – I don’t necessarily live out these things after all.)<\/p>\n

I have many reasons to think about mortality, but instead of explaining first, I’ll try to put them in the example psalm. As always, I post these psalms I’ve written as encouragement to try writing psalms yourself. Check my website, prayingwiththepsalmists.com<\/a>, for tips as to how to do this – and eventually my book, which I still hope to get published: Praying with the Psalmists: Ten Patterns to Deepen Your Prayers<\/em>. (If you want to hear about progress on getting my book published, or just to follow my Christian writing, subscribe to my free substack, Sondermusings<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

And where I want to go with that is being thankful for the life I have. So that’s how I’m going to name my psalm.<\/p>\n

The Precious Gift of Life<\/p>\n

Creator who formed me in my mother’s womb,
\nShepherd who has guided my life,
\nI’m thinking about mortality.<\/p>\n

This year, I’m the same age my mother was – 61 –
\nwhen she had her heart attack.
\nShe was never the same after that,
\nand we started seeing signs of the Alzheimer’s
\nthat destroyed her brain
\nand took her life when she was 78
\nand had nothing left she could do –
\nnot even smile.<\/p>\n

Then in the Fall, my childhood friend,
\nin the same grade as me,
\npart of our foursome,
\ndied of a stroke.
\nShe’d had a past stroke,
\nso maybe it wasn’t a surprise –
\nbut I’ve had a past stroke, too.<\/p>\n

Next, the husband of a friend from church
\ndied of cancer.
\nI saw in his obituary
\nthat he was six months younger than me.<\/p>\n

Then a college friend,
\nthe roommate of my ex-husband,
\nprecisely four days younger than me,
\nhad a massive heart attack.
\nYes, he survived, miraculously –
\nwithout even any damage to his heart.
\nBut it was a near thing,
\nand, yes, a miracle.<\/p>\n

And a few weeks ago,
\nmy best friend’s husband,
\nwhom I’ve known for the 44 years they’ve been married,
\ndied of a heart attack,
\nand a miracle didn’t happen for him this time,
\nthough he’d had miracles before.<\/p>\n

With all of this,
\nI’m reminded that there are no guarantees.
\nWe aren’t promised even the 70 years,
\nor 80 “if our strength endures”
\nmentioned in the Wisdom Psalm, Psalm 90.<\/p>\n

But, Father, that reminds me
\nwhat a good life you’ve given me.
\nAnd my heart fills with thanks.<\/p>\n

(I don’t know why anyone is granted more time
\nthan anyone else –
\nbut I do know that for all of us,
\nour time on this earth will someday end.)<\/p>\n

I’ve loved deeply; I’ve been betrayed.
\nBut you brought me through and beyond.
\nI’ve got an abundance of family
\nand two wonderful children,
\nturning out to be fine adults.
\nI’m so incredibly rich in my friends
\nwho care about me
\nand who enrich my life.
\nI’ve got a job that feels like
\nexactly the right job for me.
\nI get to sing in the choir
\nand co-lead a small group.
\nI shine light on good books
\nwith my website and serving on award committees.
\nI’ve even written a book
\nand a website about praying
\nusing patterns from Psalms.<\/p>\n

And simple joys!
\nI’ve gotten to travel
\nall over the U.S. and Europe.
\nI’ve got a lake out my window
\nand am easily delighted by flowers and birds
\nand yarn and books and games.<\/p>\n

Whenever my life ends,
\nit’s been a heartily good one.
\nAnd you’ve promised that in heaven
\nwe will be like you
\nand see you as you are
\nand our joys will be even deeper.<\/p>\n

It’s not that I want this to happen soon!
\nI am enjoying this life so much.
\nBut may I keep perspective,
\nand remember that people are important.
\nMay I notice Joys
\nand spread joy to others.
\nMay I love deeply
\nand let my friends and family know
\nhow valued they are.<\/p>\n

And thank you for the gift of each day.
\nWalk with me in it,
\ncarry me close to your heart.
\nAnd help me to shine the light of your love
\non the people you’ve blessed me to know.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

I’d still love to see your example psalms in the comments! Want to try your own Wisdom psalm (Pep Talk psalm)?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. — Psalm 90:12 I’ve been thinking about my mortality lately – and that calls for a wisdom psalm. Wisdom Psalms in Scripture, like the one quoted above, like to look at the big picture and our place in it. When I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-praying-with-the-psalmists","category-wisdom-psalms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14327"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14330,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14327\/revisions\/14330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/sonderjourneys\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}