1 Commentary to Psalms 90 thru 106 - Rev. John Schultz BOOK FOUR PSALM 90-106 PSALM NINETY A prayer of Moses the man of God. 1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men." 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning-- 6 though in the morning it springs up new, 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 The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. 12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. 16 May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. 17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands. The fourth of the Book of Psalms is the shortest in the series: only 17. The First Book contains 41, the second 31, the third 18 and the fifth 43. There is no reason to analyze the subscript of this psalm (A Prayer of Moses the Man of God) into obliteration, as some commentators endeavor to do. Why would Moses not be the author of this majestic poem? This New Year’s Eve psalm is a strange composition. The main theme consists of contrasts: the brevity and transience of man’s life stands in opposition to God’s eternity, separation stands over against return, and joy faces oppression. The first word of the psalm is Lord, 'Adonay in Hebrew. The second word is ma`own which Strongs Definitions defines as “an abode, of God (the Tabernacle or the Temple), men (their home) or animals (their lair); hence, a retreat (asylum).” The Adam Clarke Commentary writes about this: “[Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place] Maa`own…; but instead of this several MSS. have ma`owz…, ‘place of defense,’ or ‘refuge,’ which is the reading of the Vulgate, Septuagint, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. Ever since thy covenant with Abraham thou hast been the Resting-place, Refuge, and Defense of thy people Israel.” Most English versions read ma`own and translate it with “dwelling place.” TLB uses the term “home.” A footnote in the RSV states that “refuge” is another reading. Both readings emphasize the fact that we live in a hostile world and that fellowship with God is the only option that gives satisfaction to man. Moses says that, in every generation, there have been people who fled to God and who have known fellowship with Him. When we are converted to the Lord and we seek and find Him, we do nothing new in world history. Throughout the ages, people who have understood that they could not face life by themselves have done the same thing. The context suggests that we have to flee towards God. The mention of the creation of the mountains and of the earth on which we live makes us realize that our origin also is in God. We belong to Him. This makes it a natural thing for us to dwell with Him and to flee to Him when the earth becomes too cold, too dark, and too frightening for us. Dwelling with God brings us back to the conditions before the fall, to the eternity in which God laid the foundation for our salvation, to the time when our names were “written in the book of life © 2002 E-sst LLC All Rights Reserved Published by Bible-Commentaries.com Used with permission 2 Commentary to Psalms 90 thru 106 - Rev. John Schultz belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”1 It becomes evident that God the creator and God the savior are one and the same person. The birth of the mountains and our salvation and rehabilitation are inseparably linked together in Him. A furtive glance at vs. 3 would make us think that God had created us for the purpose of returning to dust, but the opposite proves to be true. The contrast between God’s eternity and our transience was not part of God’s original plan. We were created for eternity. Our returning to dust is an interruption of the plan as is clear from vs. 13: “Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.” Initially, the psalmist does not give us any reason as to why man returns to dust. Adam’s fall in sin is never mentioned. We also do not read that it is only the body that returns to dust. The hope of the resurrection is not completely absent from this psalm, but it is not specifically spelled out either. It sounds as if God alone bears full responsibility for man’s mortality. We could say that Moses supposed the first three chapters of Genesis to be so well known that there was no need for further explanation. The important point is not the cause but the effect. Sin has made man into an ephemera. Even if we would all live to be a thousand years old, we would have nothing to boast of before God. What God said to Adam is true of all of us: “Dust you are and to dust you will return.”2 Yet, it would be wrong to emphasize this fact one-sidedly, as if God had taken the initiative for the death of man. In his Commentary on the Psalms, George Knight makes the interesting observation that the Hebrew word used for “man” is not Adam but Enosh. The sentence reads literally: “You turn Enosh to destruction and say ‘Return, children of Adam.’ ” Enosh is not the man God created. He made Adam in His image and likeness.3 Enosh is the man who broke off the fellowship with God and who rebelled against Him. Our return to dust is not the result of the fact that God is eternal, although a superficial reading of the text may give us that impression. God created man for eternity and, in the words of the Apostle John: “The man who does the will of God lives forever.”4 The contrast between our transience and God’s eternity is the result of sin. Peter uses the phrase “a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” in quite a different context, as a proof of God’s compassion. God shortens and lengthens the time because of His love for man who is lost. We read: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”5 Seen in the light of this psalm, it seems as if the stress upon God’s eternity is a disadvantage for man. But we have to keep on reminding ourselves that it is sin that sweeps man away and makes him wither, not the fact that God’s character is eternal. In the second part of this psalm, in the verses 8-13, the psalm exposes the truth more clearly by mentioning our iniquities and secret sins. Our mortality places us in opposition to God’s eternity, and our iniquity makes us the object of God’s wrath. Our concept of God’s wrath is often quite distorted, as is our notion about God’s other attributes. Much of what we call wrath and anger is nothing more than the reaction of evil man to the goodness of God. We treat God’s anger over our wickedness, cruelty, and meanness as if it were malice. This is the reason in Revelation there is mention of “the wrath of the Lamb.”6 It is a type of oxymoron to attribute wrath to a lamb! The Seven Bowls of Wrath are, in a final analysis, nothing else but what man poured out upon himself when he separated himself from God. This does not mean that the wrath of God wouldn’t be an objective reality, but unless we understand that God’s wrath cannot be separated from His goodness and His love, we do not understand who God is. We might as well call the scalpel of the surgeon an instrument of evil.