The Lord Will

Psalms

Psalm 90

KJV

1

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

2

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

3

Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

4

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

5

Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

6

In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

7

For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.

8

Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

9

For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

10

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

11

Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

12

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

13

Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

14

O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15

Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

16

Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.

17

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Overview

Psalm 90, titled a Prayer of Moses, sets the eternal God against the brevity and frailty of human life, confessing that our years pass swiftly under the weight of sin and mortality. From that sober vision it turns to prayer, asking God to teach us to number our days so we may gain a heart of wisdom, and to satisfy us with his mercy. It ends by pleading that God would establish the work of frail human hands.

Setting and context

Psalm 90 opens Book IV of the Psalter and carries the superscription 'A Prayer of Moses the man of God,' the only psalm ascribed to Moses and by tradition among the oldest. Its meditation on human mortality echoes the wilderness generation and Genesis 3, where dust returns to dust. As a communal prayer, it moves from confession about God's eternity and human frailty to petitions for mercy, wisdom, and lasting work — a pattern of lament that ends in hope rather than despair.

Themes

God's eternity contrasted with human frailty (verses 1-6) · Human mortality under sin and divine wrath (verses 7-11) · Numbering our days to gain wisdom (verse 12) · Prayer for mercy, joy, and lasting work (verses 13-17)

Reflection

Psalm 90 teaches us to face our mortality honestly rather than deny it, and to let that honesty drive us to God for wisdom and mercy. Its closing prayer reframes daily work: we ask the eternal God to give our brief labors lasting worth.

Reading notes

The verse is a poetic comparison magnifying God's eternity, not a mathematical key. 2 Peter 3:8 applies the same image to God's patience and against date-setting, not to build timelines. It is a realistic observation about a typical human life in the psalm's meditation on mortality, not a guarantee or a cap; the very next words acknowledge those who live longer. Its sober realism leads to prayer, not hopelessness. The psalm turns from confession to petitions for mercy, gladness, and lasting work, ending in hope grounded in God's eternity.

Key passages

Psalm 90:1: Before speaking of human frailty, the psalm anchors the community in God himself as their enduring home across every generation. Make the unchanging God, not any earthly security, the place where your life finds its home. Psalm 90:4: From God's eternal vantage, vast stretches of time are fleeting; the verse magnifies his timelessness against our short span, not a calendar for predicting the future. Let God's timelessness put your worries and hurries in perspective without turning the verse into a code for date-setting. Psalm 90:12: Counting our days is not morbid arithmetic but a plea for the wisdom that comes from living in view of life's brevity and God's eternity. Ask God to help you live deliberately and wisely, weighing how short life is and how it is best spent. Psalm 90:17: The psalm ends by asking the eternal God to grant favor and to give lasting significance to the work of mortal, passing hands. Offer your daily work to God, asking him to make what is temporary count for something that endures.

Questions readers ask

Who wrote Psalm 90? Its superscription reads 'A Prayer of Moses the man of God.' It is the only psalm explicitly ascribed to Moses and is traditionally regarded as one of the oldest in the Psalter. What does 'teach us to number our days' mean? It is a prayer to live wisely in light of life's brevity. Counting our days is not morbid; it asks God for the wisdom that comes from remembering how short life is and how best to spend it. Does Psalm 90:4 give a code for prophetic timelines? No. 'A thousand years... as yesterday' is a poetic contrast magnifying God's eternity, not a conversion rate. 2 Peter 3:8 uses the same image to speak of God's patience and to discourage date-setting. Is Psalm 90 a hopeless psalm? No. Its honesty about mortality and sin leads into prayer for mercy, gladness, and work that lasts. It ends in hope grounded in the eternal God who is our dwelling place.