Psalm 90
Psalm 90, The Prayer of Moses in the Wilderness
Psalm 90 is titled “A Prayer of Moses the man of God.” This is the only psalm specifically attributed to Moses, though Scripture also gives other songs of Moses in Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32, along with Moses’ blessing upon the tribes in Deuteronomy 33. The title “the man of God” is fitting because Moses was chosen by God, called by God, used by God, and faithful in the house of God. Hebrews 3:5, “And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after.”
The most likely background is the wilderness period, perhaps especially near the events of Numbers 20, where Miriam died, Moses sinned by striking the rock, and Aaron died. Numbers 20:1, “Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month, and the people abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died there, and was buried there.” Numbers 20:12, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” Numbers 20:28, “And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son, and Aaron died there in the top of the mount, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.”
Psalm 90 is therefore the prayer of a man who had seen the greatness of God, the frailty of man, the tragedy of sin, the terror of divine judgment, and the necessity of mercy. Moses had watched a whole generation die in the wilderness. He had seen God’s faithfulness, but also God’s wrath. He had learned that man’s life is brief, but God is eternal. The psalm begins with God as the dwelling place of His people and ends with a prayer that God would satisfy His servants with mercy, show His beauty, and establish the work of their hands.
A. Finding Refuge in the Eternal God
Psalm 90:1, Yahweh the Refuge and Protection of His People
Psalm 90:1, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.”
Moses begins with God Himself. “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place.” Israel had lived in tents throughout the wilderness. They had no settled home, no permanent city, no homeland possession yet realized, and no stable earthly dwelling. Yet Moses says God had been their dwelling place. Their true refuge was not canvas, camp arrangement, military strength, or wilderness skill. Their true home was the Lord.
The word translated “dwelling place” can also carry the idea of refuge. Moses uses a similar thought in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 33:27, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms, and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them.” This is the comfort of God’s people. The eternal God is not merely above them. He is their refuge, and underneath them are everlasting arms.
Moses says this has been true “in all generations.” God did not become Israel’s refuge only at the exodus. He was Abraham’s refuge when Abraham left Ur. He was Isaac’s refuge in the land of promise. He was Jacob’s refuge in his wanderings. He was Joseph’s refuge in Egypt. He was Israel’s refuge in bondage and in the wilderness. Generation after generation, God had been the home of His people.
Spiritually, the believer is never homeless. Circumstances may be unstable, earthly possessions may be temporary, family lines may change, nations may rise and fall, but God remains the dwelling place of His people. A true home is a place of rest, belonging, shelter, love, and safety. In the deepest sense, all of that is found in God.
Psalm 90:2, The Eternal Origin of Yahweh
Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
Moses now contrasts God’s eternity with man’s frailty. “Before the mountains were brought forth.” In the wilderness, Moses would have seen mountains on the horizon. Mountains appear ancient, stable, and immovable to man. Yet God existed before the mountains. They were brought forth by Him.
He continues, “or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world.” God formed the earth. He is not part of creation. He is before creation, above creation, and independent of creation. Everything that exists outside of God exists because He made it.
The verse rises to one of the great declarations of God’s eternity, “even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Before time began, God was. After all earthly ages have passed, God is. He has no beginning and no end. He does not grow, decay, weaken, age, learn, improve, or decline. He simply is God from everlasting to everlasting.
This eternal nature of God is the foundation of the psalm. Moses is about to speak of man’s brief life, death, judgment, sorrow, and need for wisdom. Before he speaks of frail man, he fixes the heart on the eternal God. If God were temporary, changeable, or created, He could not be a secure refuge. But because He is everlasting, He is the only safe dwelling place for mortal men.
Psalm 90:3, The Judgment of the Eternal God
Psalm 90:3, “Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men.”
The eternal God is also the Judge of man. “Thou turnest man to destruction.” Moses had seen this. He saw Egypt judged. He saw Pharaoh’s army destroyed. He saw Israel judged in the wilderness. He saw men who had once seemed strong turned back to dust under the sentence of God.
The phrase “Return, ye children of men” is not primarily a call to repentance here. It is a command that man return to the dust from which he came. It echoes the judgment pronounced after Adam’s sin. Genesis 3:19, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Man is a creature. Man is mortal. Man is accountable. He may build cities, lead armies, gather wealth, hold office, gain fame, or live many years, but God can say, “Return,” and man returns to dust. The eternal God has authority over life and death.
This truth should humble every generation. Men often live as if they are permanent, but they are not. God alone is from everlasting to everlasting. Man returns to dust.
B. Man Before the God of Judgment
Psalm 90:4 through Psalm 90:6, God’s Perception of Time and Our Perception of Time
Psalm 90:4, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
Psalm 90:5, “Thou carriest them away as with a flood, they are as a sleep, in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.”
Psalm 90:6, “In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up, in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.”
Moses now describes time from God’s perspective. “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past.” To man, a thousand years seems almost unimaginable. It contains entire empires, generations, families, wars, histories, and lives. But to God, a thousand years is like yesterday after it has passed. It is like something brief and already gone.
Peter later uses this truth to remind believers that God is not slow concerning His promises. 2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” God is not bound by time the way man is. He rules over it.
Moses adds, “and as a watch in the night.” A night watch was only a portion of the night. To God, even a thousand years is like a few hours passing in darkness. The point is not that time is meaningless, but that God’s relation to time is entirely different from ours.
Verse 5 says, “Thou carriest them away as with a flood.” Human lives and generations are swept away like floodwaters. In the wilderness, Moses had seen people die steadily under God’s judgment. One generation was being carried away.
He continues, “they are as a sleep.” Life passes quickly, like a night of sleep. While living, man may think his days are long and significant, but in the light of eternity, they pass like a dream.
Moses then uses the image of grass. “In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.” Verse 6 continues, “In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up, in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.” Grass can appear fresh and alive in the morning, then be cut down and withered by evening. So is man. Youth, strength, beauty, energy, ambition, and success all fade quickly.
This does not mean life is worthless. It means life is brief and must be lived before God. Man must not mistake temporary strength for permanence.
Psalm 90:7 through Psalm 90:8, God’s Judgment on Open and Secret Sins
Psalm 90:7, “For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.”
Psalm 90:8, “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.”
Moses now applies these truths to Israel’s wilderness experience. “For we are consumed by thine anger.” Israel was not merely experiencing the ordinary process of aging. A generation was dying under divine judgment because of unbelief and rebellion. Numbers 14:29, “Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me.” Numbers 14:30, “Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”
Moses says, “and by thy wrath are we troubled.” God’s wrath terrified them because they saw its effects daily. Moses lived among funerals. He watched the people fall in the wilderness, not because God was cruel, but because God is holy and they had rebelled against Him.
Verse 8 says, “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee.” Their sins were not hidden from God. He placed them before His own sight and judged them rightly. God’s anger was not unreasonable. Israel’s iniquities were real.
The verse continues, “our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.” Secret sins are not secret before God. Men may hide motives, lusts, unbelief, bitterness, rebellion, deceit, cowardice, and hypocrisy from others, but nothing is hidden from the LORD. His countenance brings all things into light.
Hebrews 4:13, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
This truth should produce holy fear. The God who is our dwelling place is also the God before whose face even secret sins are exposed. Comfort and reverence belong together.
Psalm 90:9 through Psalm 90:11, Man’s Frailty Understood Against the Eternity of God
Psalm 90:9, “For all our days are passed away in thy wrath, we spend our years as a tale that is told.”
Psalm 90:10, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
Psalm 90:11, “Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.”
Moses says, “For all our days are passed away in thy wrath.” This reflects the wilderness judgment. Their days were not marked by entrance into Canaan, but by wandering under divine displeasure. They were passing away while waiting for the unbelieving generation to die.
He continues, “we spend our years as a tale that is told.” Life passes like a sigh, a murmur, a story quickly finished. Man may think his life is long, but when it is over, it seems brief.
Verse 10 says, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten.” That is seventy years. Moses himself lived 120 years. Deuteronomy 34:7, “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” Therefore Moses is not giving an absolute limit, but a poetic estimate of common human life.
He adds, “and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,” meaning eighty years, “yet is their strength labour and sorrow.” Even a long life is full of toil, weakness, grief, and trouble. Age may bring wisdom, but it also brings decline. The body weakens. Loved ones die. Strength fades. Sorrows accumulate.
The verse concludes, “for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Death comes quickly. The life that seemed long is cut off. Man flies away from earthly life. This anticipates the wisdom literature’s emphasis on the brevity and vanity of life under the sun.
Verse 11 asks, “Who knoweth the power of thine anger?” Moses had seen enough of God’s anger to know that no man fully comprehends it. God’s wrath is not light. It is proportionate to His holy nature. The verse continues, “even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.” The more rightly a man fears God, the more seriously he understands God’s wrath.
A shallow view of sin produces a shallow view of judgment. A biblical view of God produces reverence, repentance, and a sober understanding that sin before Him is deadly.
C. A Prayer in Light of Who God Is and How He Deals with Man
Psalm 90:12, Praying for Wisdom
Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
This is the central prayer of the psalm. “So teach us to number our days.” Moses does not ask merely to know that life is short. He asks God to teach him to live in light of it. Numbering our days means considering the brevity, uncertainty, and accountability of life. It means remembering that death is certain, time is limited, and every day must be lived before God.
This wisdom is not automatic. Moses says, “teach us.” Men can count money, possessions, livestock, plans, debts, and achievements, yet fail to count their days. Many live as though their days are infinite. Young people especially often assume there will always be more time. Moses asks God to teach what man naturally avoids.
The purpose is “that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” This is heart wisdom, not mere intellectual calculation. Numbering our days should change desires, priorities, conduct, repentance, worship, family life, work, and service. Wisdom is not merely knowing life is short. Wisdom is living rightly because life is short.
To live with dying thoughts is not morbid if it leads to godly living. It frees a man from vanity. It teaches him to repent quickly, forgive sincerely, work faithfully, worship seriously, and seek God above temporary things.
Psalm 90:13 through Psalm 90:17, Praying for Mercy and Blessing
Psalm 90:13, “Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.”
Psalm 90:14, “O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”
Psalm 90:15, “Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.”
Psalm 90:16, “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.”
Psalm 90:17, “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”
Moses now pleads, “Return, O LORD.” Earlier, God commanded man to return to dust. Now Moses asks God to return to His people in mercy. This is the only hope. If man remains in sin, he returns to dust under judgment. If God returns in mercy, His people may be restored.
He asks, “how long?” This is bold prayer. Moses asks God not to delay. The wilderness judgment had been long. The funerals had been many. The sorrow had been heavy. Moses pleads for God’s compassion.
The phrase “let it repent thee concerning thy servants” does not mean God changes in character or admits wrongdoing. It is covenant language asking God to relent from judgment and show compassion. Moses appeals to the LORD’s mercy toward His servants.
Verse 14 says, “O satisfy us early with thy mercy.” The word mercy here carries the idea of covenant love, steadfast love, the LORD’s faithful kindness. Moses knows that nothing else can satisfy the human heart. Not Canaan, not long life, not success, not family, not leadership, not earthly provision. Only God’s mercy satisfies.
He asks for this satisfaction “early.” This may mean early in the morning, early in life, or soon after the long night of affliction. Morning mercy brings joy into the whole day. Early satisfaction in God’s covenant love gives strength for all remaining days.
The result is, “that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Moses does not ask for shallow happiness. He asks for joy rooted in God’s mercy. A heart satisfied with God can rejoice even in a hard life.
Verse 15 says, “Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.” Moses asks God to balance the years of sorrow with days of gladness. Israel had seen many days of affliction. Moses asks that their gladness would correspond to their grief.
This is a humble but bold prayer. Lord, You have allowed us to see much sorrow. Now let us see much mercy. You have afflicted us for many days. Now make us glad in proportion to what we have endured.
The New Testament gives an even greater hope, not merely gladness equal to suffering, but glory far beyond comparison. 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Corinthians 4:18, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Verse 16 says, “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.” Moses wants more than personal relief. He wants God’s work to be visible to the servants of God and God’s glory to be seen by their children. This is generational prayer. Moses wants the next generation to see God’s glory, not merely hear about their fathers’ failures.
The wilderness generation had seen judgment. Moses prays that the children would see glory. A faithful servant of God should care that the next generation sees the works of the LORD.
Verse 17 says, “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us.” Earlier the people were consumed and terrified under God’s wrath. Now Moses asks for God’s beauty to rest upon them. The beauty of the LORD includes His favor, splendor, grace, holiness, goodness, and presence. Nothing is more beautiful than God Himself.
Moses then prays, “and establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” This is repeated for emphasis. Human life is brief. Human work can vanish quickly. Moses asks God to give permanence, meaning, and fruitfulness to the work of His servants.
Without God, man’s work is temporary and often vain. With God, even brief lives can bear lasting fruit. Moses knew that one generation was dying in the wilderness, but he still prayed that God would establish the work of His people. Fleeting days can matter when God makes man His instrument.
This is the right prayer for every believer. Lord, make my short life count. Establish what is done in obedience to You. Let my labor not vanish in vanity. Put Your beauty upon me, and make the work of my hands endure according to Your purpose.
Psalm 90 therefore teaches the believer to live between two realities, the eternity of God and the brevity of man. God is from everlasting to everlasting. Man returns to dust. God sees a thousand years like yesterday. Man is like grass that flourishes in the morning and withers by evening. God sees secret sins. Man lives under judgment and needs mercy. The wise response is prayer, teach us to number our days, satisfy us with Your mercy, show us Your work, reveal Your glory to our children, put Your beauty upon us, and establish the work of our hands.
The deepest answer to Psalm 90 is found in Christ. He entered human frailty without sin. He bore wrath for His people. He conquered the grave. He gives eternal life. In Him, the eternal God becomes the dwelling place of His redeemed people forever. John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:29, “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
