Read Psalm 90 at Bible Gateway.
Psalm 90 is a psalm of Moses – here is the structure (Hebrew paragraph divisions marked):
1a) Psa 90:1-2, The eternity of God and His works from generation to generation:
1a) Psa 90:1, Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations;
1b) Psa 90:2a, Before the mountains were brought forth;
2b) Psa 90:2b, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world; {n}
2a) Psa 90:2c, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
1b) Psa 90:3, You turn man to destruction, And say, “Return, O children of men;”
1c) Psa 90:4, For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, {n} and like a watch in the night;
1d) Psa 90:5-6, The brevity of man’s lifespan:
1a) Psa 90:5a, You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep;
1b) Psa 90:5b, In the morning they are like grass which grows up;
2b) Psa 90:6a, In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
2a) Psa 90:6b, In the evening it is cut down and withers.
1e) Psa 90:7-9a, Wrath comes because of sin:
1a) Psa 90:7, For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified;
1b) Psa 90:8a You have set our iniquities before You;
2b) Psa 90:8b, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance;
2a) Psa 90:9a, For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
1f) Psa 90:9b, We finish our years like a sigh;
central axis) Psa 90:10a, The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, {n} Yet their boast is only toil and vanity; {n}
2f) Psa 90:10c, For it is soon cut off, and we fly away;
2e) Psa 90:11, Who knows the power of Your anger? And Your wrath, according to the fear that is due to You;
2d) Psa 90:12a, So teach us to number our days;
2c) Psa 90:12b, That we may gain a heart of wisdom;
2b) Psa 90:13-15, Man longs for the return of the Lord and His mercy:
1a) Psa 90:13a, Return, O Lord! How long?
1b) Psa 90:13b, And have compassion on Your servants;
1c) Psa 90:14a, Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy;
2c) Psa 90:14b, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
2b) Psa 90:15a, Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us;
2a) Psa 90:15b, The years in which we have seen evil.
2a) Psa 90:16-17, Let the next generation know Him + His works/ establish our works as surely:
1a) Psa 90:16a, Let Your work appear to Your servants;
1b) Psa 90:16b, And Your glory to their children;
2b) Psa 90:17a, And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; {n}
2a) Psa 90:17b, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands. {p}
The psalm contrasts the eternity of God and the surety of His works, with the brevity of man who returns to dust, when his life is over like a vapor. Returning to dust is not our created state, but mortality was the consequence of our choice of sin rather than obedience to God (Gen 3). Sin is forbidden because it hurts self and others. Returning to the dust puts an end to the damage one man can do to another. When we contemplate the eternity and majesty, the authority and wisdom of God, to have chosen mortality for man as a consequence of sin, we gain a heart of wisdom, especially when we compare His steadfastness from generation to generation, to the brief span of our lives. For those who have gained this wisdom, who have repented of sin, and who seek to spend their lives worshiping God instead of hurting others, may His beauty and grace be upon them, and may the work of their hands be established to endure to His glory! Amen. ♥
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