It is a wonderful thing that the Word gives us the chance to hear how the great men of God prayed. Psalm 90 is called “A prayer of Moses the man of God” (verse 1). Besides this, the ninetieth psalm is known as a New Year’s psalm — a psalm that is read on New Year’s Day. So I think it is fitting and appropriate for us to look at it today. It speaks of the years, the seasons, human life, and how short it is, how quickly it passes. At the same time it holds a prayer for the blessing and establishing of God’s work in our lives. And that is exactly the kind of thing to do at New Year.
New Year is a dividing time — a time when the old year passes away and the New Year begins. New Year is a time for rethinking and a time for reassessment. We ought to remember and evaluate the life we have lived so far, and to ask God for His wisdom and blessing for the future.
THE LORD IS OUR MASTER
Moses opens his prayer with a mighty declaration of God’s greatness and authority. In it Moses reminds us how great is the God to whom we pray, the God we worship. He turns to God with the words (verse 1):
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. (Psalm 90:1)
The word of address Moses uses in Hebrew is “Adonai.” It implies a relationship in which God is the master and the people are His servant. In this relationship God is not only ruler, but also protector and defender. Because of His care and protection the Israelites were preserved through the years. At the same time we must not forget that God is our Master. And He is the kind of Master from whom we cannot run away. Can we flee from the Lord? He is our Master and we are His servants. We may be disobedient or rebellious servants, and He may be a strict Master, but we cannot escape this. For He is God, and we are human beings. This is the first spiritual reality.
THE LORD IS OUR “DWELLING PLACE”
Of course, Moses turns to God as to a merciful Master. For he says, “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations,” “You have been good to us.” And indeed, because of God’s care and protection they were preserved through the years. According to Moses the Lord is our “dwelling place.” This means that we live in Him. We cannot flee from Him. He knows us and He is everywhere around us. We are in Him and He knows everything about us, He knows us intimately. Moreover, a dwelling place is where we feel safe and blessed. A dwelling place is where you live. It is your home. A person feels best at home. As the English say, “My home is my castle.” “Dwelling place” means a refuge, a secure home in which we are hidden. “Dwelling place” means help in a time of threat and disaster.
THE LORD IS THE GOD OF HISTORY
The Lord is our “dwelling place.” And this is not just for one generation, but for all generations. “Throughout all generations” means “from generation to generation.”
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. (Psalm 90:1)
These words show us that God is the God of history. He is the One who called the patriarchs, He is the One who brought His people out of Egypt. He is the One who led them through the wilderness, feeding them with bread from heaven and caring for them. He is the One who kept them and gave them victory in their battles. This same God is our God as well.
THE LORD IS THE GOD OF CREATION
God is not only the God of history; He is also the God of creation (verse 2).
Before the mountains were born (Psalm 90:2)
“Before the mountains were born” — notice the scale on which Moses speaks. We can watch the coming of tomatoes and corn, or the birth of lambs and rabbits; God watches the “birth” of the mountains. Has anyone ever seen a “mountain being born”?
or you brought forth the whole world (Psalm 90:2)
In this verse Moses reaches back to creation. God is before the mountains, before the earth and before the universe, because He created them. He “brought forth” everything in this world. Therefore He is its ruler, its sovereign — the One on whom everything depends and over whom He has authority.
THE LORD IS THE GOD OF ETERNITY
Besides being the God of history and the God of creation, in the third place God is the God of eternity.
from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2)
God is outside and above His creation. He is greater than the universe He made. He existed before it ever appeared. What does “from everlasting to everlasting” mean? It means from the vanishing point in the past to the vanishing point in the future, or in mathematical language, “from minus infinity to plus infinity.” In mathematics there is a symbol that stands for “infinity.” What does “infinity” mean? Infinity means that however large a number you can think of, you can always add one more to it, and it will be greater than it. God is “from everlasting to everlasting” — He is eternal.
THE LORD IS THE GOD OF TIME
This is the God to whom we turn when we pray! How great is our God! He is the God of history, the God of creation, the God of eternity. What do these three things have in common — history, “throughout all generations”; creation, “before the mountains were born”; and eternity, “from everlasting to everlasting”? What they share is that all three are connected with time. History has to do with time, creation happened at an early moment in time, and from everlasting to everlasting is the end of time and what will be after it. So at the beginning of this psalm Moses describes God’s greatness in relation to time. God has authority over time.
How great is the difference, the contrast, between God and us! Unlike Him, who is eternal, we are temporary on this earth. He is the Creator, we are creatures. He is immortal, we are mortal. He is Master, we are servants.
What can bring us together, since we are so different? Prayer. When we pray, we draw near to God. And here in this prayer we see that Moses, who was also mortal and also a servant, had the boldness to turn to God, and God heard his prayer.
HUMAN LIFE IS LIMITED
In verses 3–13 we read Moses’ lament. In them Moses complains. About what? About God’s punishment. In this psalm Moses is like a child who has already been disciplined; the punishment was heavy, and it achieved its purpose — the child has understood why it was punished. For when a child knows that it is guilty and is punished, it does not cry. When it considers itself innocent and you spank it — then it cries. But when you punish it and it knows why you are punishing it, it bears the punishment, because it knows that it is guilty. Yet however great the child’s patience, punishment is a heavy thing. And once it is over, the child again longs for the favor of its parents. The situation in this psalm is similar. The Israelites sinned and God punished them. But now, having borne the punishment for their sin, they beg God to forgive them and once more to show them His favor and His covenant love.
Moses’ weeping begins with the words:
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” (Psalm 90:3)
What does “you turn people back to dust” mean? Death. “Return to dust, you mortals” — since you were taken from the dust, return again to the dust. In Genesis 3:19, after Adam’s fall, God said to him:
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis 3:19)
You see, God has authority over us. God has the power to turn people back from places He does not want them to go. If a person has reached somewhere, it is only because God allowed him to reach there. For example, God has allowed man to explore space. But God has hidden from man the times and the occult world. We do not know when Jesus will come. We do not know when the kingdom of God will come. When the apostles asked Jesus whether now, after His resurrection, He would restore the rule to Israel, Jesus told them (Acts 1:7):
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. (Acts 1:7)
In Greek there are two words for time — “chronos” and “kairos.” “Chronos” is time as we measure it in its sequence — hours, days, weeks, months and years. “Kairos” is time appointed for a particular activity — such as “harvest time.” According to Acts 1:7, both chronos and kairos are under God’s authority. He is the One who determines and controls them. If we have been born, it is because God allowed it; if we are alive today, it is because God has decided so. If our life is ending, this too is something that happens by God’s will.
Human life is limited. It has a beginning and it has an end. God controls the length of our life and sets its boundaries. No one can live longer than what God has appointed for him. In Ecclesiastes 8:8 it says that when God calls a person back to the dust, there is no one who can stop him.
As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. (Ecclesiastes 8:8)
For when a person dies, the spirit of the person is separated from his flesh. Can anyone determine when his death will be?
In these verses the psalmist calls us “mortals.” In Hebrew these words are “bnei-adam” and mean children of Adam. Adam was made from dust, and as “children of Adam” we too are of the dust. As people of dust we are simply mortal. Our life has a beginning and an end, and both the beginning and the end of our life are determined by God.
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” (Psalm 90:3)
HUMAN LIFE IS EXTREMELY SHORT
The length of human life is relative. Even the longest life mentioned in the Bible, the life of Methuselah — 969 years — is for God a very short period (verse 4):
A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)
Remember yesterday — how quickly it went. For God a thousand years are like yesterday to us. And a watch in the night is even shorter — it is only a few hours during the night while the soldier stands on guard. For God a thousand years are like a few hours.
There is nothing more fragile and more uncertain than human life. People pass by very quickly (verses 5–6):
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning: 6 In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered. (Psalm 90:5–6)
How does a downpour begin? Suddenly. And the flood sweeps everything away. It is said that people become like a “sleep.” The years, the past — we remember some things. But it is like when a person wakes from sleep. Can we remember exactly what we dreamed? It is hard. We remember something vaguely, but what exactly it was is not very clear.
Our life passes like a dream. When were we young? When were we students? When were we children? Some have turned fifty, others sixty, others seventy, others eighty… The years slip by like beads on a string. Very often, even for young people, death comes unexpectedly — when no one is expecting it.
A more accurate translation here is not that the grass is “mown,” but that it “withers” or “hardens.” In other words, the grass dies even without any outside interference, and in a single day. History confirms the fact that people who are considered great and beyond the reach of others can suddenly and unexpectedly vanish from human history. For example, Alexander the Great was a great conqueror, but his life ended when he was only thirty-three years old.
GOD’S WRATH IS DEADLY
There is something bittersweet about life. However bad life may be, no one wants to leave this life — everyone wants to go on living. Even though life is not always sweet — there are injustices, disasters, divorces, heavy tragedies. Things that sometimes befall the innocent and the guilty alike. There is a dark side to life, and it is the result of human sin. Because of sin — that is why there are wars, that is why there are children who are born sick, that is why there is grief in this world. God’s wrath is His moral response to sin, and it is deadly. Open the Old Testament and see what happens to those against whom God grows angry — their life ends in an instant.
We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. (Psalm 90:7)
Here Moses says: “Yes, God, You are punishing us. But Your punishment has all but finished us off. This punishment is very heavy. We are terrified. We can say nothing more.”
You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. (Psalm 90:8)
Moses says: “Yes, God, we have sinned. We have sinned, but the time in which You have kept our sin in view is enough. Yes, if You look at our sin, we deserve all of this, we deserve death. But we beg You, turn Your gaze away from our iniquities, turn Your gaze away from our secret sins that are lit up by Your light, for nothing is hidden from You.”
Perhaps when Moses was writing this psalm, he was thinking of the generation that was brought out of Egypt, that saw all the miracles God performed in judgment against the gods of Egypt, but this same generation could not enter Canaan. They saw how God turned the water into blood. How God sent the locusts, how God made darkness in the homes of the Egyptians while there was light in the homes of the Hebrews, how God struck down the Egyptian firstborn. There was no house without a dead body among the Egyptians, while at the same time God kept Israel and its firstborn. They saw all of this. They saw how, in spite of all these plagues, God gave the Egyptians favor toward the Hebrews so that they gave them gold and silver, so that when the Israelites came out of Egypt they did not come out poor, but came out full of gold and silver. They reached the Red Sea. And they saw the sea swallow up the Egyptian army led by their Pharaoh. In the morning they saw their corpses along the shore. God fought for them, and they remained “still,” as the Word says. Then they saw a pillar that led them in the wilderness. A pillar of fire that led them by night, and a pillar of cloud that led them by day. They saw God’s miracles with their own eyes. Yet in spite of this they were rebellious, they were doubting, they were grumbling.
I am most irritated when my children begin to grumble, begin to complain. I do something for them that they very much want. But when they get it they are dissatisfied again and want more. It was the same with God. He kept saving them from bondage, and they were dissatisfied again and grumbled. In Numbers it says that the Israelites provoked God ten times (Numbers 14:22).
not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— (Numbers 14:22)
By their grumbling they provoked God’s wrath. And God’s wrath is fierce and severe.
The book of Numbers is called by this name because in it are recorded the two censuses of Israel — after it came out of Egypt and before it entered Canaan. In Numbers 1:45–46 it tells us how many they were at the beginning:
All the Israelites twenty years old or more who were able to serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families. 46 The total number was 603,550. (Numbers 1:45–46)
And in Numbers 26:51, 63–65:
The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730. 63 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. 64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the wilderness, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. (Numbers 26:51, 63–65)
So that entire first army of some 603,000 men died in the wilderness. Moses was a witness to the dying out of a whole generation, and that over a very short period of forty years. A large part of them died from the plagues that God brought upon the people because of their open sins. For God bore with them, and bore with them, and bore with them, but at one moment He said, “I can bear with you no longer!” And the punishment came. And it was severe.
In 1 Corinthians 10:1–13 it says:
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:1–13)
But God sees not only our open rebellion. He knows also our secret, hidden, inner thoughts and sins. Here I want at once to clarify something else. Scripture nowhere teaches us that a passing thought is a sin. That is, if a thought crosses your mind that is sinful, or that tempts you to do something evil, but it is unbidden and only passes through your mind without remaining in you, it is not a sin. Jesus also experienced such things. Thoughts passed through His mind too that pressed Him to do evil, but He did not yield to them. It is not temptations that defile, but falling into them, or yielding to them and committing the sin to which they provoke us. But when he speaks of our secret sins being exposed before God’s face, the psalmist has in mind our sinful thoughts and vices, which we harbor, mull over, toy with, and take pleasure in. For if God is to deal with sin, He must deal with every aspect of it, and not only with its extreme forms — not only with what is seen, with the deeds, but also with our thoughts.
We could in no way withstand the strictness of God’s standards, and so we thank God for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. (Psalm 90:9)
Notice the gradation of comparisons for the shortness of human life in this passage:
- Yesterday
- A watch in the night
- A flood
- A dream
- Grass
- A moan
HUMAN LIFE IS HARD AND PAINFUL
Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10)
This is the length of life to which man is condemned because of sin. Before the flood people lived ten times longer. An example of this is Methuselah, who lived 969 years. After the flood, people lived 100 to 150 years. And after that human life was shortened still further. And a great part of human life is “trouble and sorrow.” In Job 5:6–7 it says:
For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. 7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. (Job 5:6–7)
In the following verses we read how Moses comes up against man’s strange indifference. Why do we humans ignore the fact of God’s wrath? Why do we pretend that it does not exist? A person sins and behaves as though his sin will have no consequences. But this is exactly the deceit of sin — that you can live in disobedience to God without your sinful deeds having consequences. So in verse 11 the psalmist asks a rhetorical question:
If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due. (Psalm 90:11)
Who knows the power of Your anger? Do we grasp the power of God’s wrath? If a person grasps the power of God’s wrath, he will be very careful in his actions. If a person knows how fiery God’s indignation is, he will give more reverence to God. For everything the psalmist says in verses 3–10 leads us to this eleventh verse.
The answer to this question is in the following verse (verse 12):
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
Which heart is wise? The one that looks at life realistically. A heart that accepts life as it is and at the same time fully honors the real relationship between man and God. A heart that is full of the fear of the Lord. A wise person is one who lives his life according to the terms that God has set. A wise person is one who does not live as he pleases, but in every decision takes into account the spiritual realities. Which spiritual realities?
- The spiritual reality that God is our Master, and we His servants. He watches over our life and is interested in us.
- The spiritual reality that our life is limited — we are mortal and our life has a beginning and an end.
- The spiritual reality that our life is short — it is like yesterday, it is like a watch in the night, it is like a dream, like a moan. As James says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14).
- The spiritual reality that we are sinful. Our life is full both of open and of secret sins.
- The spiritual reality that God is angry at sin, and He punishes it. The misery in our life is not accidental. It is a consequence of God’s punishment of sin.
- The spiritual reality that God hears prayers and that our prayer and our repentance can change our life.
“Teach us to number our days.” Perhaps the best interpretation of these words is Psalm 39:4:
“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. (Psalm 39:4)
By reflecting on death, a person can learn how to live. Our days on this earth are limited. That is why they are precious. And we must consider very carefully how we spend them. If we constantly remind ourselves that our end is drawing near, this will help us to live our life in a different way. In New Testament language this counsel sounds like this: “Make the most of every opportunity.” To make the most of every opportunity means to accomplish the maximum with the short time we have. Our life is a gift from God and it is far too precious to waste on sins, on foolish things, or on empty things. How can we live our life to the full? By living our life according to God’s will and the leading of the Holy Spirit. A person who has a wise heart will manage to recognize God’s purposes and will give everything of himself to hold to the fulfillment of those purposes regardless of what his own personal desires are. In other words, the question of a full life in the Holy Spirit is a question of priorities — what we consider primary and what secondary in our life. This undoubtedly leads us to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:33:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
In verse 13 we can hear a very personal appeal to God:
Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. (Psalm 90:13)
A person needs a personal relationship with God. Here Moses turns to the God who in verse 3 says, “Return to dust, you mortals,” and appeals to Him: “Relent, Lord!” — “Have mercy, put an end to our punishment!” This cry, expressing the longing for a personal relationship with God, is the key to the results that follow.
In essence verse 13 is a prayer of intercession. Moses does not pray for himself, but for God’s servants.
This psalm consists of three parts. The first part consists of the first and second verses. In this part Moses speaks of God’s greatness and of the fact that in His greatness God is our refuge, our dwelling place and Master, who cares for us.
Having established this bond between God and himself, Moses begins his lament over God’s punishment, which continues from verse 3 to verse 13. In this psalm we have no confession of sin. Why? Because the confession of sin has already been made. The punishment has been imposed and is on the verge of being borne. But we must know that where there is sin, there is also punishment. For God punishes those whom He loves. That entire generation dies out. It dies because of its sin. And even so it is heavy. That is why the psalmist weeps. For when punishment comes, it is normal to weep. And this is the lament (verses 3–13):
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” 4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning: 6 In the morning it springs up new, but 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 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 11 If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due. 12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. (Psalm 90:3–13)
GOD’S LOVE
What are we to expect if our relationship with God is restored? Then we can pray and expect from God five blessings:
First, a satisfying and filling mercy:
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)
This is a generous mercy — a mercy that satisfies, a mercy that is everlasting.
Second, a compensating joy — joy from restoration and return. A joy that is more than ample recompense for past hardships (verse 15):
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. (Psalm 90:15)
In Joel 2:21–26 it says:
Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things! 22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. 23 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. 24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. (Joel 2:21–26)
Third, lasting blessings (verse 16):
May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. (Psalm 90:16)
This is a prayer to see God’s action in our life — His work, bringing change and healing. A work that will lead to even greater blessings in the life of our children. They will see not only God’s deeds, but also His splendor!
The fourth blessing to ask of God is His favor (verse 17a).
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us (Psalm 90:17)
The favor of the Lord consists in the combination of truth and love that He possesses.
Fifth, establishment (verse 17b):
establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)
This means that God should make our labor meaningful, worthwhile and lasting. That it should not be something wasted and in vain.
All these wonderful things are for those who are ready to live in obedience to God, and to take into account the spiritual realities:
- God’s authority, within whose boundaries we all live, whether we like it or not;
- God’s wrath, which we all experience, because we live in a world in which God has allowed human sin to reach its full development;
- But in the midst of all this we see the wonder and glory of God’s love, which is displayed in His satisfying mercy, compensating joy, lasting blessings, godliness and establishment — promises that are available to all who love Him.