In denial of mortality or a wise heart?

For some time now I've been wondering about Psalm 90's "numbering of days".  The goal is quite clear: to get a wise heart. But, I've never sat down with calculator and Psalm.

For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)

A thousand years are like yesterday.

If we live 70 years, our days will be 25,500. If we live 80, our days will be 29,200.  Steve Jobs' days were just under 21,000.

Think about it like this. If 1,000 years to God is like 1 day to us, then a person who dies at age 80 only lives 8% of one God-day. That’s like a life span of less than two hours in one twenty-four hour day.

The night watch comparison makes it even shorter. 

One watch is three hours. So if 1,000 years is like 3 hours to God, then an 80-year life span is less than 15 minutes of one God-day.

Would you agree that to live in denial of our mortality is not a very clever thing to do?  This bit of understatement is cleared up by God's Word in Psalm 90:  "To live in denial of our personal mortality is to have a foolish heart".


Will I fear God more than I fear death and will I sit at Jesus' feet and learn how to calculate the days of my life?

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