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Psalm 90 Commentary

Mortality – God’s Wrath

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KEY THOUGHT: Yes, establish the work of our hands. [Psalm 90:17c NKJV]

Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!

Psalm 90 NKJV

BOOK FOUR

Psalms 90–106

The Eternity of God, and Man’s Frailty

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

90 Lord, You have been our ^[a]dwelling place in all generations.
²Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You ^[b]had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
⁴For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
⁵You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
⁶In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

⁷For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
⁸You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
⁹For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
¹⁰The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
¹¹Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
¹²So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
¹⁴Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
¹⁵Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
¹⁶Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
¹⁷And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.

Footnotes

a. Psalm 90:1 LXX, Tg., Vg. refuge
b. Psalm 90:2 Lit. gave birth to

New King James Version (NKJV)

Psalm 90 Commentary

The human author of the Book of Genesis is speaking. It is a prayer to the God who revealed Himself as the I AM God at the Burning Bush. Psalm 90 reflects some foundational truths as presented in the Torah.

The Creator God exists before creation and after creation. He is from everlasting to everlasting. This is Israel’s God, the God of creation.

We have the universal call to return to the ground. We came from there. Probably the scripture is referring to the Body. That is the only component that came from the ground.

The “return to the ground” doesn’t come immediately. Individuals are allowed to live 70 years or 80 years.

But these are years full of trouble and sorrow. Moses is not impressed. He petitions the LORD for mercy. But he also speaks to mortals. If only they knew the wrath of God!

He knows exactly why humans are ordered to return to the ground: Their iniquities. Consequently, their days pass away under God’s wrath; they come to the finish line with a moan.

Mortals have responded with a strong desire to sustain life or prolong it for as long as possible. They make every effort possible to create a world free of trouble and sorrow. But it all comes to nothing. We still retire in death with a moan. It is a rigidly defined law.

Moses, therefore, prays: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Only this wisdom can help us appreciate the wrath of God. Only this wisdom can help us understand the brevity of life. Only this wisdom can help us understand why mortals return to the ground.

This psalm summarizes the Book of Genesis. God remains the dwelling place of mankind. Mortals cannot craft their own and have it their way.

The immortal God retains control. Mortals are purposefully and deliberately subjected to wrath. There are rigid rules. Death is the finishing line for phase 1. Genesis Chapter 3 has the details.

Knowing the wrath of God means having the fear of God. It speaks of godliness. Learning to number our days has nothing to do with arithmetic. Our attention is drawn to the brevity of life and the consequent appreciation of God’s rule.

Only the Creator God can help an individual see and appreciate these facts of creation. Then the individual can seek the LORD’s compassion. Instead of trouble and sorrow, the individual can pray for gladness of the heart.

The troubles cannot be reversed by technology, drunkenness, money, power, authority, or sheer human determination. The LORD’s compassion comes first.

Then mortals can experience the unfailing love in the morning, sing for joy, and be glad all their days.

Then the saint can talk about working the ground, as originally ordered by the Creator God.

In this chapter, wrath means wrath. Joy means joy. But we only understand these terms within the context of Genesis. A prayer for “blessed works of our hands” is deeper. It’s a playback of God’s cursing of the ground because of man’s sin.

The LORD answers Moses’ prayer by Jesus Christ. It means a lot. Ponder.

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24 thoughts on “Home”

It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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Quite thought provoking. Thank you for the passage of scripture.