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Psalm Ninety
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 90
A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Here begins the fourth
part of the book of Psalms, and with the most ancient psalm throughout the
whole book, it being written by Moses; not by one of that name that lived in
later times; nor by one of his posterity; nor by some one who composed it,
agreeably to his words and doctrines, and called it by his name; but by that
Moses by whom the Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, led them
through the wilderness to the borders of Canaan's land, and by whom he
delivered to them the lively oracles; and who is described as the man of God, a
title given to Moses, Deuteronomy 33:1, so called, not as a
creature of his make, so all men are; nor as a man of grace, born of God, so is
every saint; but a man of more than ordinary gifts received from the Lord, a
prophet of the Lord, and the chief of the prophets, and a type of the great
Prophet; so inspired men and prophets under the Old Testament bear this name,
and ministers of the Gospel under the New, 1 Kings 17:18. It is a conceit of Bohlius,
that this prayer of his (so it is called, as several other psalms are, see Psalm 17:1) was made by him when he was
about seventy years of age, ten years before he was sent to Pharaoh, while he
was in Midian, which he gathers from Psalm 90:10; others think it was written
towards the end of his life, and when weary of it, and his travels in the
wilderness; but it is more generally thought that it was penned about the time
when the spies brought a bad report of the land, and the people fell a
murmuring; which provoked the Lord, that he threatened them that they should
spend their lives in misery in the wilderness, and their carcasses should fall
there; and their lives were cut short, and reduced to threescore years and ten,
or thereabout; only Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, lived to a greater age; and on
occasion of this Moses wrote this psalm, setting forth the brevity and misery
of human life; so the Targum,
"a
prayer which Moses the prophet of the Lord prayed, when the people of the house
of Israel sinned in the wilderness.'
Jarchi
and some other Jewish writersF26 not only ascribe this psalm to
Moses, but the ten following, being without a name; but it is certain that
Psalm 95 was written by David, as appears from Hebrews 4:7 and Psalm 96 is his, compared
with 1 Chronicles 16:23 and in Psalm 99 mention
is made of Samuel, who lived long after the times of Moses.
Psalm 90:1 Lord,
You have been our dwelling place[a] in all
generations.
YLT
1Lord, a habitation Thou --
Thou hast been, To us -- in generation and generation,
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations,.... Even when
they had no certain dwelling place in the world; so their ancestors, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, dwelt in tabernacles in the land of promise, as in a strange
land; and their posterity for many years served under great affliction and
oppression in a land that was not theirs; and now they were dwelling in tents
in the wilderness, and removing from place to place; but as the Lord had been
in every age, so he now was the dwelling place of those that trusted in him;
being that to them as an habitation is to man, in whom they had provision,
protection, rest, and safety; see Psalm 31:2 so all that believe in Christ
dwell in him, and he in them, John 6:56, they dwelt secretly in him
before they believed; so they dwelt in his heart's love, in his arms, in him as
their head in election, and as their representative in the covenant of grace
from eternity; and, when they fell in Adam, they were preserved in Christ,
dwelling in him; and so they were in him when on the cross, in the grave, and
now in heaven; for they are said to be crucified, buried, and risen with him,
and set down in heavenly places in him, Galatians 2:20, and, being converted, they
have an open dwelling in him by faith, to whom they have fled for refuge, and
in whom they dwell safely, quietly, comfortably, pleasantly, and shall never be
turned out: here they have room, plenty of provisions, rest, and peace, and
security from all evils; he is an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from
the storm. Some render the word "refuge";F1מעון "refugium", V. L. Vatablus;
"asylum", Gejerus. such is Christ to his people, being the antitype
of the cities of refuge; and others "helper", as the Targum; which
also well agrees with him, on whom their help is laid, and is found.
Psalm 90:2 2 Before the mountains were
brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from
everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
YLT
2Before mountains were
brought forth, And Thou dost form the earth and the world, Even from age unto
age Thou [art] God.
Before the mountains were brought forth,.... Or
"were born"F2ילדו
"nascerentur", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Michaelis; so
Ainsworth; "geniti essent", Piscator, Gejerus. , and came forth out
of the womb and bowels of the earth, and were made to rise and stand up at the
command of God, as they did when he first created the earth; and are mentioned
not only because of their firmness and stability, but their antiquity: hence we
read of the ancient mountains and everlasting hills, Genesis 49:26, for they were before the
flood, and as soon as the earth was; or otherwise the eternity of God would not
be so fully expressed by this phrase as it is here, and elsewhere the eternity
of Christ, Proverbs 8:25, or "ever thou hadst
formed the earth and the world"; the whole terraqueous globe, and all the
inhabitants of it; so the Targum; or "before the earth brought forth; or
thou causedst it to bring forth"F3ותחולל
ארץ "antequam parturiret terra", Syr.
"aut peperisses terram", Piscator, Amama. its herbs, plants, and
trees, as on the third day:
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God; and so are
his love, grace, and mercy towards his people, and his covenant with them; and
this is as true of Jehovah the Son as of the Father, whose eternity is
described in the same manner as his; see Proverbs 8:22, and may be concluded from
his name, the everlasting Father; from his having the same nature and
perfections with his Father; from his concern in eternal election, in the
everlasting covenant of grace, and in the creation of all things; and his being
the eternal and unchangeable I AM, yesterday, today, and for ever, is matter of
comfort to his people.
Psalm 90:3 3 You turn man to
destruction, And say, “Return, O children of men.”
YLT
3Thou turnest man unto a
bruised thing, And sayest, Turn back, ye sons of men.
Thou turnest man to destruction,.... Or to death, as the
Targum, which is the destruction of man; not an annihilation of body or soul,
but a dissolution of the union between them; the words may be rendered,
"thou turnest man until he is broken"F2תשב
אנוש עד דכא
"convertes hominem usque ad contritionem", Montanus; "donec
conteratur", Musculus, Tigurine verion; "donee sit contritus",
Vatablus; "ut sit contritus", Junius & Tremellius. ; and crumbled
into dust; thou turnest him about in the world, and through a course of
afflictions and diseases, and at last by old age, and however by death, returns
him to his original, from whence he came, the dust of the earth, which he
becomes again, Genesis 3:19 the grave may be meant by
destruction:
and sayest, return, ye children of men, or
"Adam"; from whom they all sprung, and in whom they all sinned, and
so became subject to death; to these he says, when by diseases he threatens
them with a dissolution, return by repentance, and live; and sometimes, when
they are brought to the brink of the grave, he returns them from sickness to
health, delivers them from the pit, and enlightens them with the light of the
living, as he did Hezekiah: or this may refer to the resurrection of the dead,
which will be by Christ, and by his voice calling the dead to return to life,
to rise and come to judgment; though some understand this as descriptive of
death, when by the divine order and command man returns to his original dust;
thus the frailty of man is opposed to the eternity of God. Gussetius
understands all this of God's bringing men to repentance, contrition, and
conversion; and takes the sense to be,
"thou
turnest till he becomes contrite, and sayest, be ye converted, ye sons of
Adam;'
which
he thinksF3Ebr. Comment. p. 158. best agrees with the mind of the
Apostle Peter, who quotes the following passage, 2 Peter 3:8. Some, as Arama observes,
connect this with the following verse; though men live 1000 years, yet they are
but as yesterday in the sight of God.
Psalm 90:4 4 For a thousand years in
Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch
in the night.
YLT
4For a thousand years in
Thine eyes [are] as yesterday, For it passeth on, yea, a watch by night.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday,.... Which may
be said to obviate the difficulty in man's return, or resurrection, from the
dead, taken from the length of time in which some have continued in the grave;
which vanishes, when it is observed, that in thy sight, esteem, and account of
God, a thousand years are but as one day; and therefore, should a man lie in
the grave six or seven thousand years, it would be but as so many days with
God; wherefore, if the resurrection is not incredible, as it is not, length of
time can be no objection to it. Just in the same manner is this phrase used by
the Apostle Peter, and who is thought to refer to this passage, to remove an
objection against the second coming of Christ, taken from the continuance of
things as they had been from the beginning, and from the time of the promise of
it: see 2 Peter 3:4, though the words aptly express
the disproportion there is between the eternal God and mortal man; for, was he
to live a thousand years, which no man ever did, yet this would be as yesterday
with God, with whom eternity itself is but a day, Isaiah 43:13, man is but of yesterday, that
has lived the longest; and were he to live a thousand years, and that twice
told, it would be but "as yesterday when it is past"; though it may
seem a long time to come, yet when it is gone it is as nothing, and can never
be fetched back again:
and as a watch in the night; which was divided
sometimes into three, and sometimes into four parts, and so consisted but of
three or four hours; and which, being in the night, is spent in sleep; so that,
when a man wakes, it is but as a moment with him; so short is human life, even
the longest, in the account of God; See Gill on Matthew 14:25.
Psalm 90:5 5 You carry them away like
a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which
grows up:
YLT
5Thou hast inundated them,
they are asleep, In the morning as grass he changeth.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood,.... As the
whole world of the ungodly were with the deluge, to which perhaps the allusion
is; the phrase is expressive of death; so the Targum,
"if
they are not converted, thou wilt bring death upon them;'
the
swiftness of time is aptly signified by the flowing gliding stream of a flood,
by the rolling billows and waves of it; so one hour, one day, one month, one
year, roll on after another: moreover, the suddenness of death may be here
intended, which comes in an hour unlooked for, and unaware of, as a flood comes
suddenly, occasioned by hasty showers of rain; as also the irresistible force
and power of it, which none can withstand; of which the rapidity of a flood is
a lively emblem, and which carries all before it, and sweeps away everything
that stands in its course; as death, by an epidemic and infectious disease, or
in a battle, carries off thousands and ten thousands in a very little time; nor
does it spare any, as a flood does not, of any age or sex, of any rank or
condition of life; and, like a flood, makes sad destruction and devastation
where it comes, and especially where it takes off great numbers; it not only
turns beauty to ashes, and strength into weakness and corruption, but
depopulates towns, and cities, and kingdoms; and as the flowing flood and
gliding stream can never be fetched back again, so neither can life when past,
not one moment of time when gone; see 2 Samuel 14:14, besides this phrase may
denote the turbulent and tempestuous manner in which, sometimes, wicked men go
out of the world, a storm being within and without, as in Job 27:20, "they are as a sleep";
or dream, which soon passeth away; in a sound sleep, time is insensibly gone;
and a dream, before it can be well known what it is, is over and lost in
oblivion; and so short is human life, Job 20:8 there may be, sometimes, a seeming
pleasure enjoyed, as in dreams, but no satisfaction; as a man in sleep may
dream that he is eating and drinking, and please himself with it; but, when he
awakes, he is hungry and empty, and unsatisfied; and so is man with everything
in this life, Isaiah 29:8, and all things in life are a
mere dream, as the honours, riches, and pleasures of it; a man rather dreams of
honour, substance, and pleasure, than really enjoys them. Wicked men, while
they live, are "as those that sleep"; as the Targum renders it; they
have no spiritual senses, cannot see, hear, smell, taste, nor feel; they are
without strength to everything that is spiritually good; inactive, and do none;
are subject to illusions and mistakes; are in imminent danger, and unconcerned
about it; and do not care to be jogged or awaked, and sleep on till they sleep
the sleep of death, unless awaked by powerful and efficacious grace; and men
when dead are asleep, not in their souls, but in their bodies; death is often
in Scripture signified by a sleep, under which men continue until the
resurrection, which is an awaking out of it:
in the morning they are like grass, which groweth up or
"passeth away", or "changeth"F4יחלף "quae mutatur", Pagninus;
"mutabitur", Montanus; "immutatur", Tigurine version;
"transiens", Junius & Tremellius; "quae transit",
Musculus, Gejerus, Michaelis. ; or is changed; some understand this of the
morning of the resurrection, when there will be a change for the better, a
renovation, as Kimchi interprets the word; and which, from the use of it in the
Arabic language, as Schultens observesF5Animadv. in Job, p. 34. ,
signifies to be green and flourishing, as grass in the morning is; and so
intends a recovery of rigour and strength, as a man after sleep, and as the
saints will have when raised from the dead. The Targum refers it to the world
to come,
"and
in the world to come, as grass is cut down, they shall be changed or renewed;'
but
it is rather to be understood of the flourishing of men in the morning of
youth, as the next verse shows, where it is repeated, and where the change of
grass is beautifully illustrated and explained.
Psalm 90:6 6 In the morning it
flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.
YLT
6In the morning it
flourisheth, and hath changed, At evening it is cut down, and hath withered.
In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up,.... That is,
the grass, through the dew that lay all night on it, and by the clear shining
of the sun after rain, when it appears in great beauty and verdure; so man in
the morning of his youth looks gay and beautiful, grows in the stature and
strength of his body, and in the endowments of his mind; and it may be also in
riches and wealth; it is well if he grows in grace, and in the knowledge of
Christ:
in the evening it is cut down, and withereth; the Targum
adds, "through heat"; but it cannot be by the heat of the sun, when
it is cut down at evening; but it withers in course, being cut down. This
respects the latter part of life, the evening of old age; and the whole
expresses the shortness of life, which is compared to grass, that now is in all
its beauty and glory, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, Matthew 6:30. This metaphor of grass, to
set forth the frailty of man, and his short continuance, is frequently used;
see Psalm 37:2, 1 Peter 1:24. It may be observed, that
man's life is represented but as one day, consisting of a morning and an evening,
which signifies the bloom and decline of life.
Psalm 90:7 7 For we have been consumed
by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified.
YLT
7For we were consumed in
Thine anger, And in Thy fury we have been troubled.
For we are consumed by thine anger,.... Kimchi applies this
to the Jews in captivity; but it is to be understood of the Israelites in the
wilderness, who are here introduced by Moses as owning and acknowledging that
they were wasting and consuming there, as it was threatened they should; and
that as an effect of the divine anger and displeasure occasioned by their sins;
see Numbers 14:33. Death is a consumption of
the body; in the grave worms destroy the flesh and skin, and the reins of a man
are consumed within him; hell is a consumption or destruction of the soul and
body, though both always continue: saints, though consumed in body by death,
yet not in anger; for
when flesh and heart fail, or "is
consumed", "God is the strength of their hearts, and their portion
for ever", Psalm 73:26, their souls are saved in the
day of the Lord Jesus, and their bodies will rise glorious and incorruptible;
but the wicked are consumed at death, and in hell, in anger and hot
displeasure:
and by thy wrath are we troubled; the wrath of God
produces trouble of mind, whenever it is apprehended, and especially in the views
of death and eternity; and it is this which makes death the king of terrors,
and men subject to bondage in life through fear of it, even the wrath to come,
which follows upon it; nothing indeed, either in life or at death, or death
itself, comes in wrath to the saints; nor is there any after it to them, though
they have sometimes fearful apprehensions of it, and are troubled at it.
Psalm 90:8 8 You have set our
iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
YLT
8Thou hast set our
iniquities before Thee, Our hidden things at the light of Thy face,
Thou hast set our sins before thee,.... The cause of all
trouble, consumption, and death; these are before the Lord, as the evidence,
according to which he as a righteous Judge proceeds; this is opposed to the
pardon of sin, which is expressed by a casting it behind his back, Isaiah 38:17,
our secret sins in the light of thy countenance; the Targum
and Jarchi interpret it of the sins of youth; the word is in the singular
number, and may be rendered, "our secret sin"F6עלמנו "mostrum absconditum", Montanus; "sive
occultum", Vatablus, Muis, Michaelis. ; which has led some to think of
original sin, which is hidden from, and not taken notice of by, the greatest
part of the world, though it is the source and spring of all sin. It is not
unusual for the singular to be put for the plural, and may intend all such sins
as are secretly committed, and not known by other men, and such as are
unobserved by men themselves; as the evil thoughts of their hearts, the foolish
words of their mouths, and many infirmities of life, that are not taken notice
of as sins: these are all known to God, and will be brought to light and into
judgment by him, and will be set in "the light of his countenance";
which denotes not a gracious forgiveness of them, but his clear and distinct
knowledge of them, and what a full evidence they give against men, to their
condemnation and death; and intends not only a future, but the present view the
Lord has of them, and his dealings with men in life, and at death, according to
them.
Psalm 90:9 9 For all our days have
passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh.
YLT
9For all our days pined away
in Thy wrath, We consumed our years as a meditation.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath,.... The life
of man is rather measured by days than by months or years; and these are but
few, which pass away or "decline"F7פנו
"declinaverunt", Pagninus, Montanus; "declinant", Munster,
Muis. as the day does towards the evening; see Jeremiah 6:4 or "turn away their
face", as the wordF8"Deflectunt faciem", Gejerus, so
Ainsworth. may be rendered: they turn their backs upon us, and not the face to
us; so that it is a hard thing to get time by the forelock; and these, which is
worst of all, pass away in the "wrath" of God. This has a particular
reference to the people of Israel in the wilderness, when God had swore in his
wrath they should not enter into the land of Canaan, but wander about all their
days in the wilderness, and be consumed there; so that their days manifestly
passed away under visible marks of the divine displeasure; and this is true of
all wicked men, who are by nature children of wrath, and go through the world,
and out of it, as such: and even it may be said of man in general; the
ailments, diseases, and calamities, that attend the state of infancy and youth;
the losses, crosses, and disappointments, vexations and afflictions, which wait
upon man in riper years; and the evils and infirmities of old age, do
abundantly confirm this truth: none but God's people can, in any sense, be
excepted from it, on whom no wrath comes, being loved with an everlasting love;
and yet these, in their own apprehensions, have frequently the wrath of God
upon them, and pass many days under a dreadful sense of it:
we spend our years as a tale that is told; or as a
"meditation"F25כמו הגה "sicut cogitationem", Gejerus, Michaelis; so
Ainsworth. a thought of the heart, which quickly passes away; or as a
"word"F26"Sicut sermonem", Pagninus, Montanus;
"instar locutionis", Musculus, Vatablus; "dicto citius",
Tigurine version. , as others, which is soon pronounced and gone; or as an
assemblage of words, a tale or story told, a short and pleasant one; for long
tales are not listened to; and the pleasanter they are, the shorter the time
seems to be in which they are told: the design of the metaphor is to set forth
the brevity, and also the vanity, of human life; for in tales there are often
many trifling and vain things, as well as untruths told; men of low degree are
vanity, and men of high degree a lie, in every state; and, in their best state,
they are altogether vanity: a tale is a mere amusement; affects for a while, if
attended to, and then is lost in oblivion; and such is human life: in a tale
there is oftentimes a mixture, something pleasant, and something tragic; such
changes are there in life, which is filled up with different scenes of
prosperity and adversity: and perhaps this phrase may point at the idle and
unprofitable way and manner in which the years of life are spent, like that of
consuming time by telling idle stories; some of them spent in youthful lusts
and pleasures; others in an immoderate pursuit of the world, and the things of
it; very few in a religious way, and these with great imperfection, and to very
little purpose and profit; and particularly point to the children of Israel in
the wilderness, who how they spent their time for thirty eight years there, we
have no tale nor story of it. The Targum is,
"we
have consumed the days of our life as the breath or vapour of the mouth in
winter,'
which
is very visible, and soon passes away; see James 4:14.
Psalm 90:10 10 The 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.
YLT
10Days of our years, in them
[are] seventy years, And if, by reason of might, eighty years, Yet [is] their
enlargement labour and vanity, For it hath been cut off hastily, and we fly
away.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten,.... In the
Hebrew text it is, "the days of our years in them are", &c.F1בהם "in ipsis", Pagninus, Montanus; "in
quibus vivimus", Tigurine version, Vatablus. ; which refers either to the
days in which we live, or to the persons of the Israelites in the wilderness,
who were instances of this term of life, in whom perhaps it first took place in
a general way: before the flood, men lived to a great age; some nine hundred
years and upwards; after the flood, men lived not so long; the term fixed then,
as some think, was an hundred and twenty years, grounding it on the passage in Genesis 6:3, but now, in the time of Moses,
it was brought to threescore years and ten, or eighty at most: of those that
were numbered in the wilderness of Sinai, from twenty years and upwards, there
were none left, save Joshua and Caleb, when the account was taken in the plains
of Moab; see Numbers 14:29, so that some must die before
they were sixty; others before seventy; and perhaps all, or however the
generality of them, before eighty: and, from that time, this was the common age
of men, some few excepted; to the age of seventy David lived, 2 Samuel 5:4, and so it has been ever
since; many never come up to it, and few go beyond it: this is not only pointed
at in revelation, but is what the Heathens have observed. Solon used to say,
the term of human life was seventy yearsF2Laertius in Vita Solon. p.
36. Herodotus, l. 1. sive Clio, c. 32. Macrob. in Somno Scipionis, l. 1. c. 6.
p. 58. & Plin. Epist. l. 1. Ep. 12. & Solon. Eleg. apud Clement. Alex.
Stromat. l. 6. p. 685, 686. ; so others; and a people called Berbiccae, as
Aelianus relatesF3Vat. Hist. l. 4. c. 1. , used to kill those of
them that lived above seventy years of age, having exceeded the term of life.
The Syriac version is, "in our days our years are seventy years";
with which the Targum agrees,
"the
days of our years in this world are seventy years of the stronger;'
for
it is in them that such a number of years is arrived unto; or "in
them", that is, in some of them; in some of mankind, their years amount
hereunto, but not in all: "and if by reason of strength they be fourscore
years"; through a good temperament of body, a healthful and strong constitution,
under a divine blessing, some may arrive to the age of eighty; there have been
some instances of a strong constitution at this age and upwards, but not very
common; see Joshua 14:11, for, generally speaking, such
who through strength of body live to such an age,
yet is their strength labour and sorrow; they labour
under great infirmities, feel much pain, and little pleasure, as Barzillai at
this age intimates, 2 Samuel 19:35, these are the evil daysF4"----tristisque
senectus et labor----". Virgil. Georg. l. 3. v. 67. , in which is no
pleasure, Ecclesiastes 12:1, or "their largeness
or breadth is labour and sin"F5רהבם
"amplitudo eorum", Montanus. ; the whole extent of their days, from
first to last, is spent in toil and labour to live in the world; and is
attended with much sin, and so with much sorrow:
for it is soon cut off; either the strength of
man, or his age, by one disease or incident or another, like grass that is cut
down with the scythe, or a flower that is cropped by the hand; see Job 14:2,
and we fly away; as a shadow does, or as a bird with wings;
out of time into eternity; from the place of our habitation to the grave; from
a land of light to the regions of darkness: it is well if we fly away to heaven
and happiness.
Psalm 90:11 11 Who knows the power of
Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
YLT
11Who knoweth the power of
Thine anger? And according to Thy fear -- Thy wrath?
Who knoweth the power of thine anger?.... Expressed
in his judgments on men: as the drowning of the old world, the burning of Sodom
and Gomorrah, the consumption of the Israelites in the wilderness; or in
shortening the days of men, and bringing them to the dust of death; or by
inflicting punishment on men after death; they are few that take notice of
this, and consider it well, or look into the causes of it, the sins of men:
such as are in hell experimentally know it; but men on earth, very few closely
attend to it, or rarely think of it:
even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath; or who knows
thy wrath, so as to fear thee? who considers it so, as that it has such an
influence upon him to fear the Lord, and stand in awe of him, and fear to
offend him, and seek to please him? or rather the wrath of God is answerable to
men's fear of him; and that, in some things and cases, men's fears exceed the
things feared; as afflictions viewed beforehand, and death itself: the fears of
them are oftentimes greater, and more distressing, than they themselves, when
they come; but so it is not with the wrath of God; the greatest fears, and the
most dreadful apprehensions of it, do not come up to it; it is full as great as
they fear it is, and more so.
Psalm 90:12 12 So teach us to
number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
YLT
12To number our days aright
let [us] know, And we bring the heart to wisdom.
So teach us to number our days,.... Not merely to count
them, how many they are, in an arithmetical way; there is no need of divine
teachings for that; some few instructions from an arithmetician, and a moderate
skill in arithmetic, will enable persons not only to count the years of their
lives, but even how many days they have lived: nor is this to be understood of
calculating or reckoning of time to come; no man can count the number of days
he has to live; the number of his days, months, and years, is with the Lord;
but is hid from him: the living know they shall die; but know not how long they
shall live, and when they shall die: this the Lord teaches not, nor should we
be solicitous to know: but rather the meaning of the petition is, that God
would teach us to number our days, as if the present one was the last; for we cannot
boast of tomorrow; we know not but this day, or night, our souls may be
required of us: but the sense is, that God would teach us seriously to meditate
on, and consider of, the shortness of our days; that they are but as a shadow,
and there is no abiding; and the vanity and sinfulness of them, that so we may
not desire to live here always; and the troubles and sorrows of them, which may
serve to wean us from the world, and to observe how unprofitably we have spent
them; which may put us upon redeeming time, and also to take notice of the
goodness of God, that has followed us all our days, which may lead us to
repentance, and engage us in the fear of God:
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom; to consider
our latter end, and what will become of us hereafter; which is a branch of
wisdom so to do; to seek the way of salvation by Christ; to seek to Christ, the
wisdom of God, for it; to fear the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom; and
to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise; to all which an application
of the heart is necessary; for wisdom is to be sought for heartily, and with
the whole heart: and to this divine teachings are requisite, as well as to
number our days; for unless a man is taught of God, and by his Spirit convinced
of sin, righteousness, and judgment, he will never be concerned, in good
earnest, about a future state; nor inquire the way of salvation, nor heartily
apply to Christ for it: he may number his days, and consider the shortness of
them, and apply his heart to folly, and not wisdom; see Isaiah 22:21.
Psalm 90:13 13 Return, O Lord! How long? And
have compassion on Your servants.
YLT
13Turn back, O Jehovah, till
when? And repent concerning Thy servants.
Return, O Lord,.... Either from the fierceness of thine
anger, according to Aben Ezra and Jarchi; of which complaint is made, Psalm 90:7, or unto us, from whom he had
departed; for though God is everywhere, as to his being and immensity, yet, as
to his gracious presence, he is not; and where that is, he sometimes withdraws
it; and when he visits again with it, be may be said to return; and when he
returns, he visits with it, and which is here prayed for; and designs a
manifestation of himself, of his love and grace, and particularly his pardoning
mercy; see Psalm 80:14.
how long? this is a short abrupt way of speaking, in which something is
understood, which the affection of the speaker would not admit him to deliver;
and may be supplied, either thus,
how long wilt thou be angry? God is sometimes angry
with his people, which, when they are sensible of, gives them a pain and
uneasiness they are not able to bear; and though it endures but for a moment,
yet they think it a long time; see Psalm 30:5. Arama interprets it,
"how
long ere the time of the Messiah shall come?'
or
"how long wilt thou hide thyself?" when he does this, they are
troubled; and though it is but for a small moment he forsakes them, yet they
count it long, and as if it was for ever; see Psalm 13:1, or "how long wilt thou
afflict us?" as the Targum; afflictions come from the Lord, and sometimes
continue long; at least they are thought so by the afflicted, who are ready to
fear God has forgotten them and their afflictions, Psalm 44:23, or "how long wilt thou defer
help?" the Lord helps, and that right early, at the most seasonable time,
and when difficulties, are the greatest; but it sometimes seems long first; see
Psalm 6:3,
and let it repent thee concerning thy servants; men are all
so, of right, by creation, and through the benefits of Providence; and many, in
fact, being made willing servants by the grace of God; and this carries in it
an argument for the petition: repentance does not properly belong to God; it is
denied of him, Numbers 23:19, yet it is sometimes ascribed
to him, both with respect to the good he has done, or promised, and with
respect to the evil he has brought on men, or threatened to bring; see Genesis 6:6, and in the latter sense it is
to be understood here; and intends not any change of mind or will in God, which
cannot be; but a change of his dispensations, with respect to desertion,
affliction, and the like; which the Targum expresses thus,
"and
turn from the evil thou hast said thou wilt do to thy servants:'
if
this respects the Israelites in the wilderness, and their exclusion from
Canaan, God never repented of what he threatened; he swore they should not
enter it, and they did not, only their children, excepting two persons: some
render the words, "comfort thy servants"F6הנחם "consolare", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus. ;
with thy presence, the discoveries of thy love, especially pardoning grace, and
by removing afflictions, or supporting under them.
Psalm 90:14 14 Oh, satisfy us early with
Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
YLT
14Satisfy us at morn [with]
Thy kindness, And we sing and rejoice all our days.
O satisfy us early with thy mercy,.... Or "grace"F7חסדך "gratia tua", Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.
; the means of grace, the God of all grace, and communion with him, Christ and
his grace; things without which, souls hungry and thirsty, in a spiritual
sense, cannot be satisfied; these will satisfy them, and nothing else; namely,
the discoveries of the love of God, his pardoning grace and mercy, Christ and
his righteousness, and the fulness of grace in him; see Psalm 63:3, this grace and mercy they
desire to be satisfied and filled with betimes, early, seasonably, as soon as
could be, or it was fitting it should: it may be rendered "in the
morning"F8בבקר "matutino
Montanus", Cocceius; so Ainsworth. , which some understand literally of
the beginning of the day, and so lay a foundation for joy the whole day following:
some interpret it of the morning of the resurrection; with which compare Psalm 49:14 and Psalm 17:15 others of the day of redemption
and salvation, as Kimchi and Jarchi: it may well enough be applied to the
morning of the Gospel dispensation; and Christ himself, who is "the mercy
promised" unto the fathers, may be meant; "whose coming was prepared
as the morning"; and satisfied such as were hungry and thirsty, weary and
faint, with looking for it, Hosea 6:3 The Targum is,
"satisfy
us with thy goodness in the world, which is like to the morning;'
and
Arama interprets it of the time of the resurrection of the dead.
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days; the love,
grace, and mercy of God, his presence, and communion with him, the coming of
Christ, and the blessings of grace by him, lay a solid foundation for lasting
joy in the Lord's people, who have reason always to rejoice in him; and their
joy is such that no man can take from them, Philemon 4:4.
Psalm 90:15 15 Make us glad according to
the days in which You have afflicted us, The years in which we
have seen evil.
YLT
15Cause us to rejoice
according to the days Wherein Thou hast afflicted us, The years we have seen
evil.
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,.... The days
of affliction are times of sorrow; and days of prosperity make glad and joyful;
and the psalmist here seems to desire an equal number of the one as of the
other; not that an exact precise number of the one with the other is intended;
but that there might be a proper proportion of the one to the other; and
commonly God does "set the one over against the other": there is a
mixture of both in the believer's life, which is like unto a chequer of black
and white, in which there is a proper proportion of both colours; and so
prosperity and adversity are had in turns, "and work together for
good" to them that love the Lord: and when it is said "make us
glad", that is, with thy favour and presence, it suggests, that these are
a sufficient recompence for all affliction and trouble; and if so here, what
must the enjoyment of these be in heaven! Between this and present afflictions
there is no proportion, neither with respect to the things themselves, nor the
duration of them; see Romans 8:18 and "the years"
wherein "we have seen evil"; afflictions are evils; they flow from
the evil of sin, and to some are the evil of punishment; and even chastisements
are not joyous, but grievous: this may have respect to the forty years' travel
in the wilderness, in which the Israelites saw or had an experience of much
affliction and trouble; and even to the four hundred years in which the seed of
Abraham were afflicted in a land not their's; see Numbers 14:33. Hence the JewsF9T.
Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 1. make the times of the Messiah to last four hundred
years, answerable to those years of evil, and which they take to be the sense
of the text; and so Jarchi's note on it is,
"make
us glad in the days of the Messiah, according to the number of the days in
which thou hast afflicted us in the captivities, and according to the number of
the years in which we have seen evil.'
Psalm 90:16 16 Let Your work appear to
Your servants, And Your glory to their children.
YLT
16Let Thy work appear unto
Thy servants, And Thine honour on their sons.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants,.... Either
the work of Providence, in conducting the people of Israel through the
wilderness, and bringing them into the land of Canaan; which God had promised
to do for them, especially for their posterity, and therefore their
"children" are particularly mentioned in the next clause; or the work
of salvation, as Kimchi; even the great work of redemption by the Messiah,
which is the work of God, which he determined should be done, appointed his Son
to do, and gave it him for that purpose now this was spoken of, and promised,
as what should be done; but as yet it did not appear; wherefore it is prayed
for, that it might; that the Redeemer might be sent, and the work be done: or
else the work of grace upon the heart, which is God's work, and an internal
one, and not so obvious to view; and hence it is entreated, that, being wrought
by him, he would shine upon it, bear witness to it, and make it manifest that
it was really wrought, and a genuine and true work; and moreover this may reach
to and include the great work of God, to be brought about in the latter day,
respecting the conversion of the Jews, the bringing in the fulness of the
Gentiles, the destruction of antichrist, and the establishment and glory of the
kingdom of Christ:
and thy glory unto their children; the glory of God,
displayed in the above works of providence and grace, particularly in the work
of redemption, in which all the divine perfections are glorified; or Christ
himself, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, that he would appear to
them in human nature, and dwell among them; and they behold his glory, as they
afterwards did, John 1:14, or else the sense is, that the
glorious grace of God might appear unto them, and upon them, by which they
would be made all glorious within, and be changed into the image of Christ,
from glory to glory; or that the Shechinah, the glorious majesty and presence
of God, might be among them, and be seen by them in his sanctuary, Psalm 63:2.
Psalm 90:17 17 And 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.
YLT
17And let the pleasantness of
Jehovah our God be upon us, And the work of our hands establish on us, Yea, the
work of our hands establish it!
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,.... Either
the grace and favour of God, his gracious presence vouchsafed in his
ordinances, which makes his tabernacles amiable and lovely, and his ways of
pleasantness; or the righteousness of Christ, which is that comeliness he puts
upon his people, whereby they become a perfection of beauty; or the beauty of holiness,
which appears on them, when renewed and sanctified by the Spirit; every grace
is beautiful and ornamental: or Christ himself may be meant; for the words may
be rendered, "let the beauty of the Lord be with us"F11עלינו "adsis nobis", Tigurine version, Junius
& Tremellius; Heb. "sit apud nos", Piscator; "super nobis et
apud nos", Michaelis. ; he who is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten
thousand altogether lovely, fairer than the children of men, let him appear as
the Immanuel, God with us:
and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of
our hands establish thou it; or "direct it"F12כוננהו καταθευνον, Sept.
"dirige", V. L. Musculus; "dirige et confirma", Michaelis.
; though God works all works of grace for us, and in us, yet there is a work of
duty and obedience to him for us to do; nor should we be slothful and inactive,
but be the rather animated to it by what he has done for us: our hands should
be continually employed in service for his honour and glory; and, whatever we
find to do, do it with all the might of grace we have; and in which we need
divine direction and strength, and also establishment, that we may be steadfast
and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: and this petition is
repeated, to show the sense he had of the necessity of it, and of the vehemence
and strength of desire after it. Jarchi interprets this of the work of the
tabernacle, in which the hands of the Israelites were employed in the
wilderness; so Arama of the tabernacle of Bezaleel.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)