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Scott's Reference Library
Psalm 90:1 through Psalm 90:12 (NIV)
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning—
6 though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 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.
11 Who knows the power of your anger?
For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
12 Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 1-6
It is supposed that this psalm refers to the sentence passed on Israel in the
wilderness, Numbers 14. The favour and protection of God are the only sure rest
and comfort of the soul in this evil world. Christ Jesus is the refuge and
dwelling-place to which we may repair. We are dying creatures, all our comforts
in the world are dying comforts, but God is an ever-living God, and believers
find him so. When God, by sickness, or other afflictions, turns men to
destruction, he thereby calls men to return unto him to repent of their sins,
and live a new life. A thousand years are nothing to God’s eternity: between a
minute and a million of years there is some proportion; between time and
eternity there is none. All the events of a thousand years, whether past or to
come, are more present to the Eternal Mind, than what was done in the last hour
is to us. And in the resurrection, the body and soul shall both return and be
united again. Time passes unobserved by us, as with men asleep; and when it is
past, it is as nothing. It is a short and quickly-passing life, as the waters of
a flood. Man does but flourish as the grass, which, when the winter of old age
comes, will wither; but he may be mown down by disease or disaster.
VERSES 7-11
The afflictions of the saints often come from God’s love; but the rebukes of
sinners, and of believers for their sins, must be seen coming from the
displeasure of God. Secret sins are known to God, and shall be reckoned for. See
the folly of those who go about to cover their sins, for they cannot do so. Our
years, when gone, can no more be recalled than the words that we have spoken.
Our whole life is toilsome and troublesome; and perhaps, in the midst of the
years we count upon, it is cut off. We are taught by all this to stand in awe.
The angels that sinned know the power of God’s anger; sinners in hell know it;
but which of us can fully describe it? Few seriously consider it as they ought.
Those who make a mock at sin, and make light of Christ, surely do not know the
power of God’s anger. Who among us can dwell with that devouring fire?
VERSES 12-17
Those who would learn true wisdom, must pray for Divine instruction, must beg to
be taught by the Holy Spirit; and for comfort and joy in the returns of God’s
favour. They pray for the mercy of God, for they pretend not to plead any merit
of their own. His favour would be a full fountain of future joys. It would be a
sufficient balance to former griefs. Let the grace of God in us produce the
light of good works. And let Divine consolations put gladness into our hearts,
and a lustre upon our countenances. The work of our hands, establish thou it;
and, in order to that, establish us in it. Instead of wasting our precious,
fleeting days in pursuing fancies, which leave the possessors for ever poor, let
us seek the forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance in heaven. Let us pray that
the work of the Holy Spirit may appear in converting our hearts, and that the
beauty of holiness may be seen in our conduct.
See also Psalm 9