We begin Book IV of the psalter. This book contains psalms 90 through 106.
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
This is the only psalm in the psalter attributed to Moses. Alter says that the name of Moses appears seven times in Book IV; only once in the psalter elsewhere.
Psalm 90:1-2, God Eternal
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God is eternal, looking over thousands of generations.
Psalm 90:3-4, The flow of a thousand years
You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
If God is eternal, mankind is ephemeral, here in one moment, gone in the next. A thousand years in God's sight is like a passing day, even a mere fraction of the day, a mere watch of the night. The three stichs, "For a thousand years... day... watch in the night" is not an equation (not "1000 years = 1 day") but a statement about the irrelevance of time from God's perspective. As C. S. Lewis's character, Aslan, says, "I call all times 'soon'" (Voyage of the Dawn Treader.)
The Hebrew word translated "dust" by the NIV is dakka, at times meaning "destroyed", "contrite", "crushed". It is not the Hebrew word for dust, aphar, that appears in Genesis 2:7, but the word translated "men" is the generic adam, and here is surely an allusion to the creation of man in Genesis.
Psalm 90:5-6, Grass for half a day
You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning--
though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.
The description of man's frailty changes: man is like fresh grass in the morning that disappears by evening. (See also Isaiah 40:6-7.)
Psalm 90:7-10, Our desperation
We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
The length of our days is seventy years--
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Commentator Robert Alter says that the Hebrew words in verse 7 for "anger" and "terror" continue the image of heat blowing away the grass.
The human condition is described here as a mere 70 years, maybe 80, set against the eternity of God. We humans are transparent to Him, living a short, fleeting life. The psalmist reminds God of our weaknesses and His power.
Psalm 90:11-13, Relent
Who knows the power of your anger?
For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
In Deuteronomy 32, a song of Moses, we are told that even thought the people of Israel turn away and then feel God's wrath, eventually He will "relent" (Deuteronomy 32:36) and "vindicate His people." Here, in verse 13, the psalmist asks that YHWH "relent" and have compassion on His servants who have only a small number of days.
While begging for compassion, the psalmist also reminds human readers of the need for wisdom on the shortness of our lives. Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 dwells on this teaching, on the wisdom in recognizing the shortness and frailty of each human life.
This song of Moses reminds me of a Jars of Clay song, Frail, also on the brokenness of us mere mortals.
Psalm 90:14-16, Glad for our days
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
As our human lives are so short, the psalmist asks that God's servants feel His love and sing for joy, that they enjoy the few days given them, and pass on to the next generation an understanding of the works of God.
Psalm 90:17, Establish the work of our hands!
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us--
yes, establish the work of our hands.
The psalm ends with a plea to the eternal God to build up the mere mortals who seek to serve Him.
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