Psalm 90
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.” For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night.
You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.
For we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
For all our days pass away under your wrath; our years come to an end like a sigh. The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.
Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be manifest to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands— O prosper the work of our hands!
Background
Psalm 90 is the only psalm attributed to Moses. At the heart of this psalm and the rest of what is known as Book IV, is the “answer” that pervades the psalter and forms its theological heart: God reigns! Remember that Moses dies before entering the promised land. The reason given is that God was “angry” with Moses (the root Hebrew meaning ‘wrath’). Moses became a paradigm for Israel’s existence and human existence generally. We always come up short. The message becomes, if the great Moses came up short, then perhaps it is not such a disaster that we do too. Moses’ death was a reminder that God, not Moses, would lead the people into the promised land. While the psalm is primarily about time (everlasting to everlasting), it is also about place, that God is really the only “dwelling place” that counts. When verse 3 is translated ‘dust’ it may be more appropriately ‘crushed,’ by the weight of time upon human existence. It suggests that we need to turn around, be contrite and repent. The same word is used to call upon God to “turn” or “repent.” Verses 7 and 9 involve an understanding of the relationship between death and sin. Human death could be a part of God’s plan which would be acceptable. But if it is a consequence of sin, it is problematic. For the psalmist, sin does not cause physical death, but involves alienation from God. In Exodus 32, and now in Psalm 90, the people’s sinfulness and God’s anger were not the final words. God repented, eventually revealing the divine self to be gracious, merciful, faithful, and steadfastly loving. “So teach us to count our days” or ‘live day by day’ (NIV), (v 12), when this is done, when life is accepted as a gift and entrusted daily to God, then a ‘wise heart’ (v 12) is gained, and physical death is no longer a problem. Verse 13 is a request for God to forgive human sinfulness, which alienates us from God and makes finitude a problem. God’s fundamental character involves steadfast love, which takes concrete form in the forgiveness of sins. God redeems time. Whereas the passage of time was only ‘toil and trouble’ earlier in the psalm, now there are new possibilities. We can be satisfied in the morning, and “rejoice and be glad all our days.” (v 14) Psalm 90 suggests that God’s purposes will never finally be thwarted by human sinfulness.
Reflection
How do you understand the relationship between our human transitory nature (death) and sinfulness?
Have there been occasions when you considered our ‘time’ to be ‘toil and trouble’ and wondered what God’s purpose for us was? How did you resolve the issue?
Reflect on your experience of a memorial service. Can you say that you heard the message of God’s redemptive power in that service? Was it helpful for you to deal with your grief?