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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)