Unless otherwise stated, all citations are taken from the New International Version (NIV).
It can be classified in the genre of lament or perhaps wisdom.[1] The psalm was written by Moses, and it is the only psalm written by him. This makes sense of the content because it is a “close companion”[2] of Genesis 1-3.
God is eternal
(90:1) Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Moses will go on to state that humans float away in the passing of time. He begins this psalm by rooting our identity in him as our “dwelling place” (māʿôn). This term refers to God being the “refuge”[3] or “home” of his people (Ps. 91:9; Deut. 33:27).
(90:2) Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God exists independently of the cosmos.
Humans are temporary
(90:3) You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
By contrast, humans possess no self-existence (cf. Gen. 3:19). At death, God takes souls of people from their bodies (Ps. 104:29).
(90:4) A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
As an eternal being, God has a much different view of time (cf. 2 Pet. 3:8). A “watch in the night” is even shorter than a day. It is only four hours.[4]
Since the Fall, God has sentenced people with death
(90:5-6) Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—they are like the new grass of the morning: 6 In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.
Why does he compare human lives to grass? He is showing how transitory and temporary human life is. VanGemeren writes, “The analogy comes out of the context of the dry summer climate in Canaan, where the green landscape of the winter and spring could be changed to a brown, parched scenery within a few days of hot weather. The time designations ‘morning’ and ‘evening’ are metaphors for the brevity of life and are not to be taken literally.”[5]
Since the Fall, God has sentenced people with judgment
(90:7) We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.
Not only do humans live brief lives, but they face their Creator in the end. Estes writes, “Humans have both the problem of mortality and the problem of morality, and they tend to be in denial about both aspects of their condition.”[6]
“Consumed” and “terrified” are parallel thoughts.
(90:8) You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
Even the secret sins are known by God (cf. Ps. 44:21). An omniscient being knows secret sins just as clearly as overt sins.
(90:9) All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.
What a sad picture of the misery of death! People give up their lives with a “moan.” As one poet wrote, “This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.”[7]
(90:10) Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Eighty years go by so quickly. And then? Our time is up. The older you get, the more you realize just how quickly life expires.
(90:11) If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
Throughout this section, Moses connects human death with God’s judgment for human sin.[8] In light of the reality of death, people should respect and revere God, rather than simply “living for the moment.”
(90:12) Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
In what way is understanding the brevity of life a key to “wisdom”? For one, it leads to urgency in following God. We have no warranty on how long our lives will last. We will get 70 to 80 years if we are fortunate (v.10). Second, we realize that our values change when we know that our lives will be over shortly. Only people will make it to eternity—not possessions. Third, we gain humility by knowing that we play such a small part in the grand scheme of salvation history.
Prayer for forgiveness
The eternal and self-existent God has decreed death for all people (Gen. 3:19). What hope do humans have? Only grace and forgiveness.
(90:13-14) Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
“Relent, LORD!” (šûḇ) Moses used this same language in his prayer for God to turn from his burning anger and change his mind at the incident of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32:12).
Knowing God’s love leads us to having “joy” and “gladness” instead of misery (see v.9).
(90:15) Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.
Moses is trusting God to bring the joy back into his life.
(90:16) May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.
He wants his children to experience the wonder of serving God. Estes writes, “Instead of living only for the moment, by numbering their days carefully (v. 12) they are now thinking of their children in the future, as they ask the Lord to make a permanent change for their nation by his active intervention.”[9]
(90:17) May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.
A spark of hope rests in the final verse. God wants to help our work be “established.” VanGemeren writes, “The Lord’s acceptance of his own assures a certain permanence of their work. Life under the sun may be vain. The man under God’s judgment can accomplish no ultimate good. However, the godly and wise pray that the Lord will accept their work and ‘establish’ [kônenāh] it as having value (cf. Deut 2:7; 14:29: 16:15). Frail, limited, and sinful as man is, the love of God can transform what is weak to his own glory.”[10]
Devotional Paraphrase of Psalm 90
“I have always been your home—throughout our entire history together. I have existed for eternity—long before you were born. As an eternal Being, your life is infinitesimally short to Me. Even as a human being, you can see just how short your life is. It goes by so fast! I want to teach you to have wisdom with your life, so that you don’t waste it. Let me bless your life with compassion, love, joy, and gladness. Let me make your work here on earth truly count.”
[1] Daniel J. Estes, Psalms 73–150, ed. E. Ray. Clendenen, vol. 13, New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2019), 175.
[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 359.
[3] Daniel J. Estes, Psalms 73–150, ed. E. Ray. Clendenen, vol. 13, New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2019), 176.
[4] Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 594.
[5] Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 593.
[6] Daniel J. Estes, Psalms 73–150, ed. E. Ray. Clendenen, vol. 13, New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2019), 178.
[7] T.S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men.” (1925)
[8] Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975), 362.
[9] Daniel J. Estes, Psalms 73–150, ed. E. Ray. Clendenen, vol. 13, New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2019), 180.
[10] Willem A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991), 597–598.