Psalms 90
90
PSALM 90
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
A Prayer of Moses the man of God.
1Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place
in generations all.
2Before thou ever hadst brought forth
the mountains great or small;
Ere ever thou hadst form'd the earth,
and all the world abroad;
Ev'n thou from everlasting art
to everlasting God.
3Thou dost unto destruction
man that is mortal turn;
And unto them thou say'st, Again,
ye sons of men, return.
4Because a thousand years appear
no more before thy sight
Than yesterday, when it is past,
or than a watch by night.
5As with an overflowing flood
thou carry'st them away:
They like a sleep are, like the grass
that grows at morn are they.
6At morn it flourishes and grows,
cut down at ev'n doth fade.
7For by thine anger we're consum'd,
thy wrath makes us afraid.
8Our sins thou and iniquities
dost in thy presence place,
And sett'st our secret faults before
the brightness of thy face.
9For in thine anger all our days
do pass on to an end;
And as a tale that hath been told,
so we our years do spend.
10Threescore and ten years do sum up
our days and years, we see;
Or, if, by reason of more strength,
in some fourscore they be:
Yet doth the strength of such old men
but grief and labour prove;
For it is soon cut off,
and we fly hence, and soon remove.
11Who knows the power of thy wrath?
according to thy fear
12So is thy wrath: Lord, teach thou us
our end in mind to bear;
And so to count our days, that we
our hearts may still apply
To learn thy wisdom and thy truth,
that we may live thereby.
13Turn yet again to us, O Lord,
how long thus shall it be?
Let it repent thee now for those
that servants are to thee.
14O with thy tender mercies, Lord,
us early satisfy;
So we rejoice shall all our days,
and still be glad in thee.
15According as the days have been,
wherein we grief have had,
And years wherein we ill have seen,
so do thou make us glad.
16O let thy work and pow'r appear
thy servants' face before;
And shew unto their children dear
thy glory evermore:
17And let the beauty of the Lord
our God be us upon:
Our handy-works establish thou,
establish them each one.
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Psalms 90: MP1650
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Psalms 90
90
God’s Eternity and Human Frailty
1A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
I
Lord, you have been our refuge
through all generations.
2Before the mountains were born,
the earth and the world brought forth,
from eternity to eternity you are God.#Ps 48:15; 55:20; 93:2; 102:13; Heb 1:12.
3You turn humanity back into dust,#Dust: one word of God is enough to return mortals to the dust from which they were created. Human beings were created from earth in Gn 2:7; 3:19.
saying, “Return, you children of Adam!”#Ps 103:14; 104:29; 146:4; Gn 3:19; 1 Mc 2:63; Jb 34:14–15; Eccl 3:20; 12:7; Sir 40:11.
4A thousand years in your eyes
are merely a day gone by,#2 Pt 3:8.
Before a watch passes in the night,
5#You wash them away: the Hebrew of Ps 90:4–5 is unclear.you wash them away;#Ps 89:48.
They sleep,
and in the morning they sprout again like an herb.
6In the morning it blooms only to pass away;
in the evening it is wilted and withered.#It is wilted and withered: the transitory nature of the grass under the scorching sun was proverbial, cf. Ps 129:6; Is 40:6–8.#Ps 37:2; 102:11; 103:15–16; Jb 14:1–2; Is 40:6–8.
II
7Truly we are consumed by your anger,
filled with terror by your wrath.
8You have kept our faults before you,
our hidden sins in the light of your face.#Ps 109:14–15; Hos 7:2.
9Our life ebbs away under your wrath;#Ps 39:5–7; 62:10; 102:24–25; 144:4; Gn 6:3; Jb 7:6, 16; 14:5; Prv 10:27; Eccl 6:12; Wis 2:5; Sir 18:8; Is 65:20.
our years end like a sigh.
10Seventy is the sum of our years,
or eighty, if we are strong;
Most of them are toil and sorrow;
they pass quickly, and we are gone.
11Who comprehends the strength of your anger?
Your wrath matches the fear it inspires.
12Teach us to count our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
III
13Relent, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14Fill us at daybreak with your mercy,#Ps 17:15.
that all our days we may sing for joy.
15Make us glad as many days as you humbled us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.#Nm 14:34; Jer 31:13.
16Show your deeds to your servants,
your glory to their children.
17May the favor of the Lord our God be ours.#Ps 33:22.
Prosper the work of our hands!
Prosper the work of our hands!
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