Psalm 90

From Theologica

Contents

Overview

Although the subtitle of this psalm is "A Prayer of Moses, the man of God", I have been unable to find any evidence other than tradition which supports this. I do agree, however, with Dr. Timothy Baker Shutt when he says we should trust the history of traditions as a sort of rule of thumb.

As there is no solid evidence to support to authorship, neither is there evidence to support a time frame for when the psalm was written. If the author was indeed Moses, then it stands to reason that the psalm was written sometime during the wilderness wanderings. If the psalm had another author, however, the psalm could just as easily been written during another time in which the nation of Israel faced an extended period of God's judgment.

As a whole, the psalm may be summed up in four points: 1) The eternality of God; 2) The brevity of man's life; 3) God's condemnation of Israel; 4) Supplication for God to forgive and bless the people.

The psalm begins by recognizing God's timeless nature and that it is He who has sheltered the nation of Israel throughout their existence - presumably from Abraham if not from Adam himself. With God's eternal nature in mind, the psalm then compares man to Him and shows both that man's life is very brief and that it is God Himself who is sovereign over that life. Furthermore, the psalmist almost seems to be reminding God of this fact as if saying: "Do not be angry with us too long, because what is a moment to you is years for us, and we feel every day in each of those years."

And God is angry with the psalmist's people. So much so, that the psalmist says the people have been "consumed by [His] anger" and are "dismayed." Their days have declined and their lives end with a sigh. Being then that the lives of the people are short, the psalmist requests that God teach the people to take account of the days of their lives, to understand God's anger and to learn to fear Him, and by doing so give them wisdom.

As the psalm ends, a plea is made for God to return to His people; to forgive them and to help them to find satisfaction in Him. This last portion also requests both that God reveal His workings to His people and that He "confirm the works of [their] hands." This last request seems to be made more fervently and this author takes it to mean that there is a desire to know that one's life is not meaningless.

Dr. Henry Morris IV said the following in an email...

Psalm 90, the majestic prayer written by Moses toward the end of his life, contains a beautiful summary of God's power and provision for Israel throughout the ages. The overwhelming theme concerns the brevity of our lives, and the urgency to finish the work the Lord has given us. Moses wrote that "all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told |literally, a brief sigh|" (v. 9). And because life is so short, Moses asks the Lord to "teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (v. 12).
The word "teach" here literally means to acknowledge or recognize. And in order to do this, we first must know how many days have passed since birth, and then roughly estimate how many days may remain to us. Anticipating a normal lifespan of 70 to 80 years (v. 10), this exercise forces us to consider "the work of our hands" (v. 17) to determine if we have applied "our hearts unto wisdom" (v. 12). This New Year, take time to consider your "number of days" and how you can effectively use the remainder for His glory!

Although some of this may be valid, the majority was written with a preconceived topic in mind. Exegesis was done in light of that initial topic.

Outline

I. The Eternality of God (90:1-2)
II. Man's Brief Life (90:3-6)
III. Israel Under God's Judgment (90:7-12)
IV. Supplication for Forgiveness (90:13-17)

Study

90:1 - God Our Dwelling Place

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Observation

  • Moses is speaking, so it is safe to assume "our" refers to Israel, and "generations" refers to Israel's generations
  • dwelling place, abode, domicile
    • A place to seek shelter
    • A place which gives shelter
  • By calling up generations, Moses brings up history
    • God has offered shelter throughout Israel's history.
    • Israel has sought refuge in God throught their history
  • Dwelling place offers up these thoughts
    • Comfort, family, warmth, safety, peace, rest, security
  • This verse links God's immortality with Israel seeking shelter in Him
    • These are the two main themes in this psalm.

Interpretation

  • God offers safety to His people
  • God's people can seek comfort and security in Him
  • with respect to the rest of the Psalm, this verse seems to offer a taste of what 13-17 are requesting

Application

90:2 - God Everlasting

Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Observation

  • God Existed before the mountains
  • God created the earth and the world (assuming the universe)
  • God is everlasting (infinite, immortal)
  • He alone is God
  • Continues to expand on Verse 1. Not only has God lived as long as Israel has had generations, but He is everlasting.

Interpretation

  • God is timeless

Application Note:

  • Key verse:
    • God's timelessness
    • References creation

90:3 - God the Sovereign

You turn man back into dust
And say, "Return, O children of men."

Observation

  • Does the first line mean that God literally takes the life of men, or does it refer to His outliving them?
    • I can see things from both sides
    • But I think verse five argues that God takes the lives of men.
  • Man is created from dust, to dust he eventually returns
    • The Hebrews apparently understood that dirt is made by the decaying of living things
  • God holds the lives of men in His hands
    • He holds ultimate power over us.
  • The Psalmist recognized God's complete sovereignty over him and his people
    • He is not bitter or angry; he just pleads

Interpretation

  • God is sovereign
  • God is the root of life
  • God is the determiner of destiny

Application

90:4 - God's View of Time

For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
Or {as} a watch in the night.

Observation

  • It seems that the Psalmist is beginning a comparison between God's and Man's perspectives of time
    • He is doing this in order to begin pleading his people's case
    • He is reminding God that even though man's life may be a blink in God's eye, to man it is a lifetime

Interpretation

  • God's perspective is not man's perspective
  • God does know the difference between the two
  • God is timeless, so really, speaking about God's view of time is sort of silly.

Application

90:5 - Ephemeral Man

You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.

Observation

  • Compares man to the grass
    • Man's life in God's eyes is much like grass's life to man's eyes
    • Not really, but the Psalmist is trying to show perspective
  • States that God is the cause for man's death
  • Sweeping away like a flood:
    • Is this reference to Noah?
    • Is it a reference to an event during the exodus?
    • Is it, rather, a reference to the breadth of God's

Interpretation

Application

90:6 - Man's Life

In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew;
Toward evening it fades and withers away.

Observation

  • Expanding on the idea of Grass being short lived from v5
  • Describes man's life.
    • In the morning of his life, he has energy and vigor
    • As the "day" progresses, his life begins to fade and pass away
  • Nevertheless, grass is alive, it has a life; so does man.

Interpretation

  • The combination of this verse and v5 sets up the next set of verses.
    • It is the psalmist reminding God a moment of anger for God can last generations for man

Application

90:7 - God's Continual Anger

For we have been consumed by Your anger
And by Your wrath we have bee dismayed.

Observation

  • the first verse is a bit of hyberbole. Israel was not litterally consumed
  • The second versette, expands on the first stating that Israel was fearful because of God's wrath.
  • When was Israel consumed by God's anger?
    • Was this an instance of God's wrath such as at the golden calf?
    • Or was this rather an ongoing wrath such as the forty years in the desert.
    • Since the Psalmist continues to compare/contrast the eternality of God with the ephemerality of man, it is best to assume an ongoing wrath.
      • If Moses is the author, then the forty year wanderings are the best time setting for this psalm.

Interpretation

Application

90:8 - God the Judge

You have placed our iniquities before You,
Our secret {sins} in the light of Your presence.

Observation

  • the second versette expands upon the first
  • God sees our sins
    • Even the ones we think are secret
  • The "lihgt of Your presence" implies the lack of sin or darkness in God

Interpretation

  • God is sinless
  • God is light
  • God is judge
  • God's sinlessness uniquely qualifies Him to be judge of creation
  • we are accountable to God for our actions

Application

90:9 - Life's Futility

For all our days have declined in Your fury;
We have finished our years like a sigh.

Observation

  • The days of the people of Israel were exhausted - the days passed away - because of God's anger with them.
  • Their lives had little meaning other than to wander; to get the next generation to the promised land
  • There is an undertone of futility here.
  • The quality of life declined because of God's anger
    • Why?
      • Was it just situational?
      • Did the Hebrews feel the weight of their sin? Did their guilt eat at them?
      • Was it the magnitutde of what they were forced to bear because of their transgression?
  • The idea of finishing life as just a sigh just seems so futile.
    • This versette is brilliant because of the this imagery
    • Fury and sigh seem to be contrasted a bit here.

Interpretation

Application

90:10 - Life's Brevity

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away.

Observation

  • The average lifespan of the Hebrew was seventy years.
    • Those who were "strong", eighty
  • The best or strongest of those years was just "labor and sorrow"
    • Why?
      • Is it because it is so short?
      • Is it because of what is shouldered in that time?
      • Is it the guilt?
      • Or is it the wrath being born by them?

Interpretation

  • The majority of my life is spent working, but I wouldn't say it is sorrowful work.
    • At times it has been

Application

90:11 - Ignorance of God's Anger

Who understands the power of Your anger
And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

Observation

  • The question is asked, but it is rhetorical. It is assumed that no one understands God's anger. How could we?
  • The second versette is a continuation and a bit of expansion upon the first.
  • We do not properly fear God
    • Probably because we do not fully believe His word or His existence.


Interpretation

  • Why can we not understand God's anger?
    • It is righteous
    • It is true and perfectly accurate
    • It is holy
    • We do not understand fully that our sins are against God alone
  • Why do we not fear God?
    • we rationalize His judgments and actions away.
  • Understanding God's anger more fully will allow us to fear Him more fully.

Application

  • Meditate and study why God would be angry.
  • God is not angry at the believer; Jesus is our propitiation.

90:12 - Life's Stewardship

So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

Observation

  • v. 11 argues that we do not understand the "power of [God's] anger", nor do we properly fear Him
    • v 12 then is asking God to teach "us"
  • "to number our days" has been argued, in more places than one, to mean account for the time alotted to us.
    • Why should we account for our time on earth?
      • So "that we may present to [God] a heart of wisdom"
        • Proverbs 9:10 instructs us that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom"
  • We will have to present our heart to God
    • that is, our thoughts and intentions along with our actions will be on display before God.

Interpretation

  • Fearing the Lord properly will encourage us to make the most of our time on earth
    • Making the most of our time will enable us to present to God "a heart of wisdom."
  • We will be held accountable for our time on earth as alluded to in v7

Application

  • Make the most of the time alotted to you
  • Live in such a way as to not have to be ashamed when it is "your time"
  • Am I?

Questions

  • Am I making the most of my time?
  • Where is the balance? Is there a balance?
  • How then do you live to God?
    • Whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (Romans 11:36

Thoughts

  • I Corinthians 6:19-20 says I am not my own and I am to glorify God with my body
    • If this is so - and it is - I must conclude that every second is to be lived to God
  • I can have free time without guilt, if my thoughts and actions reflect a heart to honor God in that time.
    • Is this right?

90:13 - Moses' Plea

Do return, O LORD; how long will it be?
And be sorry for Your servants.

Observation

  • Marks a change of direction for the Psalm. Here it moves to a supplication to God to turn from His anger and judgment of the people and begin to heal them.
  • The Psalmist asks how long it will be for God "to return"
  • The second versette is an expansion upon the first. Perhaps they would be considered equal.
  • Recognizes the Israelites as God's servants
  • Even Moses - or whoever the Psalmist was - worried about God's apparent lack of involvement at times
  • It appears to everyone at times that God has left them

Interpretation

  • The psalmist understands God is with him and the people, but there is still a desire to see Him work

Application

90:14 - Joy in God

O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Observation

  • the word "morning" calls to mind vv 5 & 6
    • So morning here may refer to the youth of one's life.
    • If this is true then Moses is asking God that his people would be satisfied in God from an early age.
    • Why? this is continued in v15
      • So that we may be happy for all of our lives and not merely finding solace in God later in life.
  • Man is happiest when he is most satisfied in God
  • Why would the Israelites sing for joy and be glad all their days?
    • They know they are saved.

Interpretation

  • Satisfaction in God leads to lifelong joy.

Application

90:15 - Peace in Tribulations

Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have seen evil.

Observation

  • I don't believe "the days You have afflicted us" refers to our entire lives
    • I believe this is in reference to actual days the Israelites endured God's anger
    • I may be wrong; this may in fact be asking God to give them peace for the days they are enduring life on earth
  • Being glad according to these days would be a one-for-one relationship.
    • If God has afflicted them for ten years, then let them be glad for ten more.
  • The second versette is an expansion upon "the days You have afflicted us"

Interpretation

Application

90:16 - Reveal to Us

Let Your work appear to Your servants
And Your majesty to their children.

Observation

  • The request is made that God reveal to His people what He is doing
    • Or is this instead a request that His people open their eyes and see what He has shown them?
  • Definitely a request that the children recognize God's glory and majesty
  • Why is this request being made?
    • So that the people would remain motivated to follow through?
    • So they would realize the importance of their lives

Interpretation

Application

90:17 - Confirm Our Works

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

Observation

  • First versette: request for God's favor on the people
    • How?
  • By establishing/confirming the work of the people
    • By ensuring their efforts have not been in vain, even if their lives appeared to be so.
  • The people want to know that the next generations would have life in the promised land

Interpretation

Application

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