Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. It must have been crushing for Moses to see a whole generation melt away in the wilderness, dying away under the judgment of God. Spiritually speaking, that never needs to be the state of the believer. 1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: The beauty of the LORD: “His favourable countenance, and gracious influence, and glorious presence.” (Poole), iii. And say, “Return, O children of men.”. Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God: Before anything existed, God was. “Fleeting as our days are, they are ennobled by our being permitted to be God’s tools.” (Maclaren), ii. “This is the highest description of the eternity of God to which human language can reach.” (Clarke), ii. Time passes unobserved by us, as with men asleep; and when it is past, it is as nothing. They know that without the Lord they can do nothing, and therefore they cry to him for help in the work, for acceptance of their efforts, and for the establishment of their designs.” (Spurgeon), iii. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. This psalm is titled A Prayer of Moses the man of God. e. Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: Earlier in this psalm Moses spoke of God’s people being consumed and terrified. c. Satisfy us early with Your mercy: Moses understood that true satisfaction was not rooted in money, fame, romance, pleasure, or success. “We do not understand the full blessedness of believing that God is our asylum, till we understand that He is our asylum from all that is destructive…nor do we know the significance of the universal experience of decay and death, till we learn that it is not the result of our finite being, but of sin.” (Maclaren). Thus the psalmist prays for a new beginning, which the Lord alone can open up for his people.” (VanGemeren). Jews are people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. So teach us to number our days, a. Let it be done reverently.” “Psalm 93 describes a theocracy, as do the seven psalms that follow it. Psalms 90:15 - Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. It is impossible to think of a higher level of beauty or goodness. The days of our lives are seventy years: Moses lived 120 years according to Deuteronomy 31:2 and 34:7. In the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and in its Latin translation in the Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 89 in a slightly different numbering system. i. We are taught by all this to stand in awe. “To number our days; to consider the shortness and miseries of this life, and the certainty and speediness of death, and the causes and consequences thereof.” (Poole), ii. Let us pray that the work of the Holy Spirit may appear in converting our hearts, and that the beauty of holiness may be seen in our conduct. Who among us can dwell with that devouring fire? If we connect it with any particular time in the life of Moses, the best suggestion is the time described in Numbers 20. Cite Share Print BLB Searches. If we would dare to wait before Him for satisfaction then, the filling of that hour would overflow into all other hours.” (Meyer), iii. The deep cry of Moses seems to anticipate important themes in Ecclesiastes. And in the resurrection, the body and soul shall both return and be united again. So teach us means that this wisdom must be learned. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. We finish our years like a sigh. Are like yesterday when it is past, Psalms 90:1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Dr. Philip W. McLarty. “As a tale”: … For a thousand years in your sight. That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Chapter 90 The foregoing psalm is supposed to have been penned as late as the captivity in Babylon; this, it is plain, was penned as early as the deliverance out of Egypt, and yet they are put close together in this collection of divine songs. Check out these helpful resources Biblical Commentary Sermons Children’s Sermons Hymn Lists. Few seriously consider it as they ought. God takes interest in the affairs of men and exercises His holy judgment. “Let us deeply consider our own frailty, and the shortness and uncertainty of life, that we may live for eternity, acquaint ourselves with thee, and be at peace; that we may die in thy favour and live and reign with thee eternally.” (Clarke). i. “He that dwelleth in God cannot be unhoused, because God is stronger than all; neither can any one take another out of his hands, John 10:29. Who knows the power of Your anger? c. Like grass which grows up: Moses used many poetic pictures to describe God and time. i. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 90:12-17 Those who would learn true wisdom, must pray for Divine instruction, must beg to be taught by the Holy Spirit; and for comfort and joy in the returns of God's favour. a. You can check these in your browser security settings. And like a watch in the night. In the wilderness Moses and the people of Israel felt consumed by God’s anger and terrified by His wrath. (12-17). They pray for the mercy of God, for they pretend not to plead any merit of their own. PSALM 90 * God’s Eternity and Human Frailty. “He is raised above Time, and none of the terms in which men describe duration have any meaning for Him. Plug in, Turn on and Be En light ened! the earth and the world brought forth, from eternity to eternity you are God. We have our home in Him, and home should be a place where we rest, where we can be ourselves, where love and happiness dominate. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. OR Select a … Verse 9. He added this picture: a thousand years is like grass which grows up in the morning and in the evening it is cut down and withers. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Psalms 90 Commentary, One of over 110 Bible commentaries freely available, this nine-volume commentary, respected by legions of devoted students, still ring with timeless truth 2 Before the mountains were born,. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. Click the verse number to read commentary, definitions, meanings, and notes for that particular Psalms 90 verse. He saw it with wicked Egypt and disobedient Israel. ii. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. 3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” 4 A thousand years in your sight. God stands forever, but long days have passed away in Your wrath and we finish our years like a sigh. i. When God, by sickness, or other afflictions, turns men to destruction, he thereby calls men to return unto him to repent of their sins, and live a new life. Copy Options. i. b. - For … 90:1 i. G. Campbell Morgan said of Psalm 93, “Interpretation is almost an impertinence. “If we had no Scripture at all to prove this, daily experience before our eyes makes it clear how all men, even the wisest, the strongest, the greatest and the mightiest monarchs and princes in the world, be but miserable men, made of red earth, and quickly turn again to dust.” (Smith, cited in Spurgeon). Psalm 90:12 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Psalm 90:12, NIV: "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." They are 3 different words in the Hebrew Bible. “It was toward the close of the desert wanderings that Moses wrote this sublime psalm, all the imagery of which is borrowed from the wilderness. Before the mountains were brought forth: In the wilderness on the slow route to Canaan, Moses saw mountains on the horizon and reflected on the truth that God existed before those mountains. The Psalm is called a prayer, for the closing petitions enter into its essence, and the preceding verses are a meditation preparatory to the supplication. In Psalm 90 Moses focuses on God’s greatness, our human weakness, and our need for the Lord to provide grace for our daily needs. Men can number their herds and droves of oxen and of sheep, they can estimate the revenues of their manors and farms, they can with a little pains number and tell their coins, and yet they are persuaded that their days are infinite and innumerable and therefore do never begin to number them.” (Tymme, cited in Spurgeon), iii. Our dwelling place in all generations: Moses understood that Yahweh’s help to His people did not begin with the exodus from Egypt. The beauty of the LORD our God is great beauty. And let Divine consolations put gladness into our hearts, and a lustre upon our countenances. i. You have set our iniquities before You: The judgment of God came against His people because of their iniquities. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations." “In this Eternal One there is a safe abode for the successive generations of men. a. Christ Jesus is the refuge and dwelling-place to which we may repair. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain. Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God, For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. Secret sins are known to God, and shall be reckoned for. ii. a. Hebrew is the language that the Jews spoke when they wrote the psalms. The watch around the campfire at night; the rush of the mountain flood; the grass that sprouts so quickly after the rain, and is as quickly scorched; the sigh of the wearied pilgrim.” (Meyer). God’s perspective of time’s passing is very different from ours. It is supposed that this psalm refers to the sentence passed on Israel in the wilderness, Numbers 14. Through an exploration of Psalm 90, this article will strive to give answer to the eternal question of meaning and purpose, particularly in the entrepreneurial realm of business. i. Essentially, Moses asked that God would work with man. NET RSV ASV YLT DBY WEB HNV. Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, Bible Study Tools Language Tools Historical Writings Pastoral Resources Personal Resources Site Resources advertisement. It is a short, bold declaration of God’s might, power, and holiness. It isn’t automatic. All this should mark our relationship with God. So teach us to number our days: When Moses considered the frail nature of humanity and the righteous judgment of God, it made him ask God for the wisdom to understand the shortness of life. And by Your wrath we are terrified. Some commentators think this was not the same famous and familiar Moses, but the evidence is much stronger for believing that this was indeed the great leader of Israel. We are dying creatures, all our comforts in the world are dying comforts, but God is an ever-living God, and believers find him so. iv. When the eternal, holy God saw and considered them, His response was anger and wrath. It was satisfied with God’s mercy, His faithful, covenant goodness to His people. The days of our lives are seventy years; In short, as Moses interceded for the people in the face of God’s anger over their creation of the golden calf (Exodus 32:1-6), so Psalm 90 portrays Moses as intercessor in the face of God’s anger expressed in verses 7-11. For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. The afflictions of the saints often come from God's love; but the rebukes of sinners, and of believers for their sins, must be seen coming from the displeasure of God. In all those years Israel lived in constant need of refuge, shelter, and protection. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. b-c. the Psalms of 103 and 104 are attributed to David. c. Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance: It was not only their obvious iniquities but also their secret sins that God saw. It isn’t a good thing to refer to anyone as homeless. “The faithful beseech God to let his ‘beauty,’ his splendor, the light of his countenance, his grace and favour, be upon them.” (Horne). Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Unique among the Psalms, it is attributed to Moses, thus making it the first Psalm to be written chronologically. A thousand years are nothing to God's eternity: between a minute and a million of years there is some proportion; between time and eternity there is none. A prayer of Moses the man of God. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Young people especially often think their days have no number and give little thought to what lies beyond this life. More than their tents and their armies, Israel had God as their dwelling place, their refuge and their protection. His conclusion, of course, is that man and God look at time from entirely different perspectives. Addressing Him, not as Elohim the Mighty One, nor as Jehovah, the Helper, but as Adonai, the Sovereign Lord, the singer declares that He has been the dwelling-place, the habitation, the home of man in all generations.” (Morgan), ii. Most people live with little awareness that life is short, and their days should be numbered. According to the days: “The good Lord measures out the dark and the light in due proportions, and the result is life sad enough to be safe, and glad enough to be desirable.” (Spurgeon). “There is no hour like that of morning prime for fellowship with God. Click to Sign Up Now! or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. He prayed that the gracious God would exchange that misery for His own beauty. Thy wrath: we spend our years like a watch in the whole of believer! Use some of its features most commentators place the crisis portrayed in eternal! Might by the frame of our hands, establish us in it at time entirely! Which you have been our dwelling place in all generations. [ ⇓ see commentary ⇓ ] psalm 90:1 NIV. 120 years according to Deuteronomy 31:2 and 34:7 God alone. ” ( Spurgeon psalm 90 commentary. ” ( )! And purpose of man collect Personal data like Your IP address we allow you to cookies! 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