“Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

In early America, and throughout 18th-century Europe, people were confronted daily with their mortality. On the way to Sunday worship, they walked through the church cemetery, past the graves of family and neighbors. Many headstones carried a simple Latin phrase:

Memento mori
“Remember your death.”

Psalm 90, written by Moses, echoes that same reminder, but frames it as a prayer. It’s not only about recognizing the reality of death, but asking the Lord to teach us through it—to help us see life’s brevity so that we might gain a heart of wisdom. For centuries, this way of thinking was common sense: life is short, death is certain, and true wisdom means living in light of that reality. 

But today, in an age of medical breakthroughs and miracle drugs, we’ve done everything possible to push death out of sight. Anti-aging creams, healing therapies, and “don’t die” biohackers fill our feeds. The sick and elderly are tucked away in hospitals and nursing homes, their decline handled by others. More and more, the dying are cremated instead of buried. Funerals are rebranded as “celebrations of life.” Children are often shielded from it all so we don’t have to have hard conversations. In short, we avoid death at all costs.

But ignoring death doesn’t erase it. Death speaks truths we’d rather not hear: that we are not in control, that our striving and possessions are empty, and that the pride of life is foolishness. Death feels normal, but it is not natural. It points to the brokenness of this world—and to the fact that no matter how hard we try, we cannot fix it ourselves.

That’s why a biblical view of mortality matters. To number our days is to recognize our need for a Savior. The gospel tells us Christ has done what we could not—He conquered death. His victory humbles us, but it also fills us with joy. For the Christian, death is not the end but the beginning—a short interruption before entering the presence of our loving Father.

Later in Psalm 90, after describing the hardships of God’s people, Moses turns his prayer toward the joy of the Lord, the satisfaction found in Him, the power of His works, and the hope of His return. His prayer was that God’s people would see that this life is not all there is—that our God is better than anything this world can offer, and that eternity with Him is more real than the fleeting pleasures we chase here.

That’s the kind of heart Moses prayed for. And it’s a prayer worth echoing today: that we wouldn’t be blinded by a culture determined to avoid death, but instead, in wisdom, we would see our frailty and our desperate need for a death-conquering King. That our eyes would be lifted to Christ, who has overcome death and given us eternal life.

For more on this subject, I’d highly recommend Matthew McCullough’s book Remember Death.