“The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years… Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10-12)
When I was 25 years old I attended a conference for pastors. Our speaker was a famous pastor who had snowy white hair. I felt sorry for him because he was so very old. As he started to speak his first words to us were: “I’m old. I’m gloriously old, but I wouldn’t be as young and ignorant as you are for anything in the world!”
I was feeling sorry for him because he was so old, while he was feeling sorry for me because I was so young.
In many cultures age is considered a plus because wisdom comes with age. Psalm 90 makes the statement we reach 80 years of age “by reason of strength.” I have had a debilitating disease since 1978. By God’s grace, I have found the strength which comes from the Lord and is exhibited in the showcase of my physical weakness.
I was born eighty years ago today (25 Oct), so these verses resonate with me in a personal way. Two of the ways Moses exhorts us to apply this psalm is to number and value our days to gain a heart of wisdom about how we should spend them.
He then concludes his psalm asking God to show us the work God wants us to do, so that God’s glory might appear to our children. His last words invite God to anoint the work God reveals to us.
Dick Woodward, 25 October 2010
Editor’s Note: October 25th is Dick Woodward’s birthday. The fact that he was 83 when he died as a bedfast quadriplegic in 2014 is miraculous. But everyone who knew Dick Woodward can probably still hear his voice saying, “I can’t, but God can… I didn’t but God did.” (In other words, even when Papa couldn’t do anything but nod his head, God did miraculous things in and through him.) After 28 years as a quadriplegic, today his spiritual legs are running along Heavenly pavements, basking in the everlasting love of Jesus.
4SpiritualSecrets 
Thanks for sharing. Happy birthday to Dick in heaven!
God blessed my life through the privilege of knowing Dick
Woodward and the joy of sharing pastotal ministry with him as a member of the Virginia Beach Community Chapel leadership team.
Dick endeared himself to me by entrusting me with major facets of Chapel life and ministries. Ours was a symbiotic relationship that enabled us to freely function in our respective areas of strength that enhanced the local and global outreach of the church. He honored me by trusting me. Ours was a wholesome relationship in which I grew as a minister of the Gospel. He was my mentor.👨