This is why psalm 90 has such a different feel than the other psalms. For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by. This has traditionally been understood to reflect mosaic authorship. If tents is right in verse 10, this is confirmation that moses wrote this psalm, and at, or about, the time suggested viz.
However, he gets credit for collecting many of them. As a religious song, this psalm is commonly invoked in times of hardship. This puts the composition of psalm 90 about 500 years before the temple was built in jerusalem, and well before israels kingdom extended all the way from damascus to egypt under david and solomon. Unique among the psalms, it is attributed to moses, thus making it the first psalm to. Psalm 90 91 h e that dwelleth in the help of the most high shall abide in the shelter of the god of heaven. The allotment of life, seventy or eighty years, does not refer to. Therefore the psalm cannot at all refer to such ancient times. What can we learn from the prayer of moses psalm 90.
A bible devotion from psalm 90 we finish our years like a sigh. Moses himself lived longer than this, but his was the exception not the rule. Book four psalm 90106 psalm ninety a prayer of moses the man of god. It corresponds to the book of numbers in the pentateuch. Since these were sung going up the steps, they were called psalms of ascension. This is probably the pattern psalm upon which others are based. It raises up some deep questions about the value and the meaning of our lives.
Moses composed one of the psalms in this section of the psalter psalm 90, and david wrote two of them psalm 101, 103. An interpretive study on psalm 90 the ninetieth psalm is a masterpiece, archetypal of all hebrew hymnic literature, a prism through which the rest of the book of psalms is refracted. Book four from everlasting to everlasting a prayer of moses, the man of god. Note that psalm 90 is attributed to moses in the subtitle. Observe the change of the divine names in this psalm. But considering that the book describes joshuas death at the end, and includes in the middle specifically joshua 15. The psalm is well known for its reference to human life expectancy. The one thing that we all seem to most readily slip away from, when studying the things of the lord, is the fact of our present existence. The first book contains 41, the second 31, the third 18 and the fifth 43. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are god. A disciple on psalms 90 we spend our years as a taleso teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Some commentators think this was not the same famous and familiar moses, but the evidence is much stronger for believing that this was indeed the great leader of israel. Psalm 90 is a psalm of hope, hope for a life that has a meaning beyond the years we live it, hope that we can experience the peace and joy of the lord, and hope for the servant greater than moses. Hebrew is the language that the jews spoke when they wrote the psalms. Moses comforts himself, and his people, with the eternal and unchangeable duration of god himself, and their interest in. Psalm 120 would be sung on the first step, psalm 121 on the second step, etc. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are god. Before the mountains were born, before you birthed the earth and the inhabited world from forever in the past to forever in the future, you are god. The result is the majestic psalm 90, the oldest of the psalms, the only one in the psalter known to have been written by moses. You turn men back to dust, saying, return to dust, o sons of men. Eventually, there will come a day when we come to the final page. Some scholars feel that he also wrote psalm 91, which ties in somewhat with psalm 90. Psalm 90 is unique in that it is the only psalm that has a superscription that identifies it as having been written by moses. But there is little question but that moses is the author of this ninetieth psalm.
Book iv psalms 90106a prayer of moses, the man of god. The theme of the psalm is how man lives for a short time, yet god lives forever. A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a. A the psalmist says, teach us to number our days aright. Our dwelling place a sermon on psalm 90 the latest post. Psalms 90 styles itself as a psalm written by moses or passed down from moses.
Psalms 90 commentary matthew henry commentary on the. The people of israel are apparently in some sort of trouble, again, and have gathered in their place of worship to seek gods help and deliverance. Psalms is a book, so technically, solomon wrote a fraction of a book of psalms. And, josephus, an early historian wrote that david composed songs and hymns to god in various meters.
Bible our library commentaries the treasury of david psalm psalm 90 psalm 90. The following books of the bible are of unknown authorship. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. You turn people back to dust, saying, return to dust, you mortals. Psalm 90 tells us there is a place for pessimism, a very important lesson to learn. Psalms 90, new king james version nkjv the bible app.
You return people to dust, saying, go back, humans, because in your perspective a thousand years are like. If the title be at all authentic, it must refer to some other person of that name. Jews are people who were born from abraham, isaac and jacob and their children. Notice, as well, that even in its somber thoughts, god is described as israels dwelling place. Psalm 90 ceb book iv psalms 90106a prayer of bible. Translations seem mostly to agree about this, although im not sure if thats the only way to translate it. Moses represents the law, by which our states of mind are reckoned, arranged and disposed. The authorship is interesting concerning the content. This psalm is titled a prayer of moses the man of god. Verses 16 this psalm is entitled a prayer of moses. Psalm 90106 activities for christian homes and families. Psalm 90 heman the ezrahite psalm 88 ethan the ezrahite psalm 89. Before you created the hillsor brought the world into be. The psalmist wants us to realize that our life is like a book hold up a book.
Moses inspired answer to the question of how this ephemeral lasting only a short while life can have value is. Where, and in what volume, it was preserved from mosess time till the collection of psalms was begun to be made, is uncertain. Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm, written by moses by the year 1440 bc. Psalm 90 is the first psalm in book four of the psalter i. Book 4, psalms 90106 psalm 90 a prayer of moses the man of god. Psalm 90 is the 90th psalm from the book of psalms. Psalms 90 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. Book4opens with a psalm attributed to moses, and it closes with one in which moses is the dominant figure. Psalm 90 marks the beginning of book four of psalms. In the authors time, israel had undergone hardships and experienced death.
He that dwelleth in the aid of the most high, shall abide under the protection of the god of jacob. Yes, however, i think the intention of the question is how many psalms did solomon write. The days of our years are threescore years and ten. Alexander regards it as the heart or centre of the whole collection and a model upon which david formed his hymnology. Those who believe in moses authorship of the psalm almost universally agree that moses.
It is entitled from everlasting to everlasting and is noted as a prayer of moses, the man of god. Why would moses not be the author of this majestic. It is a response to carpe diem, yolo, and mindless living. In book iv, the name yahweh or jehovah is prominent. As they are read it should be kept in mind that these. You return people to dust, saying, go back, humans, because in your perspective a thousand years are like yesterday. Psalm 90, referred to by its latin title qui habitat after its first line, whoso dwelleth under the defence of the most high, is known as the psalm of protection. Smith says in taking inspiration, published in psalms and practice edited by stephen breck reid, page 245, that the scholarly consensus is that the superscriptions we see on many of the psalms are prose additions to the prior written poems. Psalm 9093 niv book iv psalms 90106 a prayer of bible.
Commentary on psalm 90 the nations faith in jehovah. 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. This psalm was composed by moses, the man of god, some time after god had sentenced the hebrews to wandering and death in the wilderness, num. Moses says before you brought forth the earth there was only everlasting god. He says our days fly by quickly under gods wrath so teach us man to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Moses comforts himself, and his people, with the eternal and unchangeable duration of god himself, and their interest in him, ver. Book iv psalms 90106 a prayer of moses the man of god. Psalm 90 is unique in that it is the only psalm attributed to moses. Psalm 90 who is god and what is man outline for church.
Some of the events referred to in the psalms were a part of his life. The fourth of the book of psalms is the shortest in the series. In the greek septuagint version of the bible, and in its latin translation in the vulgate, this psalm is psalm 89 in a slightly different numbering system. Lord, you have been our help, generation after generation. This psalm is placed at the beginning of the fourth book of the psalter, according to the ancient traditional division of the psalms. Or, perhaps, the author of the arrangement probably ezra designed to place this by itself between the two great divisions of the book, containing respectively the earlier and the later psalms. Book four from everlasting to everlasting a s prayer of moses, the t man of god. Traditionally, many have claimed joshua as the author of the book. Moses begins with the declaration of the majesty of the lord adonai but when he arrives at ps 90. Unique among the psalms, it is attributed to moses, thus making it the first psalm to be written chronologically. Psalm 90 1 psalm 90 a prayer of moses the man of god. The book would thus date to either the 15th or th century bc, depending, again, upon exactly when the exodus from egypt occured. The time of our life is threescore years and ten saith moses, or set it upon the tenters, and rack it to fourscore, though not one in every fourscore arrives to that account, yet can we not be said to live so long. In the hebrew, the phrase is beyond the vanishing point.