Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the saints dwell in their God, and have always done so in all ages. The phrase נשׂא בחיקו is used in other instances of loving nurture, Numbers 11:12; Isaiah 40:11. "LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations." Men of God are sure to be men of prayer. Our lives depend totally upon God moment-by moment. Be thou our guard while life shall last, and our eternal home. (a) Thus the Scripture refers to the prophets. We must consider the whole Psalm as written for the tribes in the desert, and then we shall see the primary meaning of each verse. 2 Corinthians 5:10). 11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? 67. The lectionary text is the first part of the psalm (verses 1-12) that contrasts God’s permanence with the brevity of human life. Thou hast been our dwelling-place - The Septuagint renders this, "refuge" - καταφυγἡ kataphugē. The Psalm is called a prayer, for the closing petitions enter into its essence, and the preceding verses are a meditation preparatory to the supplication. Moses, in effect, says - wanderers though we be in the howling wilderness, yet we find a home in thee, even as our forefathers did when they came out of Ur of the Chaldees and dwelt in tents among the Canaanites. Ruffin. l. 1. fol. Psalm 90:12(HCSB) Verse Thoughts. 1. dwelling-place—home (compare Eze 11:16), as a refuge (De 33:27). dirimens, which gives it an emotional turn) of Thine anointed, i.e., they follow him everywhere, wheresoever he may go, and whatsoever he may do. The phrase נשׂא בחיקו is used in other instances of loving nurture, Numbers 11:12; Isaiah 40:11. Though we are not yet in possession of all we have been promised, here and there along the way we catch glimpses of our eternal home. even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. Psalm 90:1-12 1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. We therefore refer it to עמים, and take אויביך as an apposition, as in Psalm 139:20 : who reproach Thee, (as) Thine enemies, Jahve, who reproach the footsteps (עקּבות as in Psalm 77:20 with Dag. in all generations. and immortal, yet for his sin thou didst make him mortal and miserable.. Saidst — Didst pronounce that sad sentence, return, O men, to the dust out of which ye were taken, Genesis 3:19.. Verse 4 He pleaded with the Lord to help humankind realize that we will all answer to God for deeds done in the body (cf. God is eternal and human life is short. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even … Lord, you have been our dwelling place. The section moves toward lament, giving way to petition in the remainder of the psalm (verses 13-17). Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Dr. Philip W. McLarty. They are gone in the blink of an eye. Psalms 90:1. are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night. 4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. We do not need this conjecture. Jews are people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. That is, A succeeding generation has found him to be the same as the previous generation had. The Asaph Psalm 77 and the Tephilla Isaiah 63 contain similar complaints, just as in connection with Psalm 89:51 one is reminded of the Asaph Psalm 79:2, Psalm 79:10, and in connection with Psalm 89:52 of Psalm 79:12. That stability contrasts with the brevity of human life. W. Marshall and Lulie Craig Chairholder in Bible, A resource for the whole church from Luther Seminary. The creator — the one who was before there was a creation — has given the community refuge throughout the generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from … They pray for the mercy of God, for they pretend not to plead any merit of their own. This prayer of Moses reminds us of God’s creation of the world and the Book of Genesis and Exodus. and say, y “Return, z O children of man!” 2. Go to the Palatine and see how the Caesars are forgotten of the halls which echoed to their despotic mandates, and resounded with the plaudits of the nations over which they ruled, and then look upward and see in the ever-living Jehovah the divine home of the faithful, untouched by so much as the finger of decay. Psalm 90 – The Prayer of Moses in the Wilderness. BOOK IV Psalms 90–106 -A prayer of Moses the man of God. Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,3 and said: “I have granted help to one who is … Not in the tabernacle or the temple do we dwell, but in God himself; and this we have always done since there was a church in the world. Moses, setting forth the eternity and providence of God, Psalm 90:1:2, describeth the misery and shortness of man’s life, Psalm 90:3-11; prayeth for wisdom to number his days, Psalm 90:12; and for the knowledge and sensible experience of God’s good providence, Psalm 90:13-17. In its literary setting in the book of Psalms, then, Psalm 90 is a kind of response to the problem of exile articulated at the end of Psalm 89. The center of the psalm is the prayer that God will not overlook such human experience but bring mercy to the congregation consisting of short-lived people. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. adv. Its hope is to discern the significance of the days humans receive and for divine benevolence in the midst of those days. The superscription to Psalm 90 takes readers back to a time before the Davidic monarchy and before the temple to the time of Moses when there was no monarchy or temple and the people were not even in the land promised to them. Lord, thou hast been our Dwelling place in all generations; Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Psalms 90:1-17 A Matter of Life and Death. God has been present with the faith community and has served as a reliable and strong protector. The poet complains as a member of the nation, as a citizen of the empire, that he is obliged to foster many nations in his bosom, inasmuch as the land of Israel was overwhelmed by the Egyptians and their allies, the Libyans, Troglodytes, and Ethiopians. (Psalms 90–106) Psalm 90 God’s Eternity and Human Frailty. What Psalm 90 means. 1. The psalm begins by addressing God and praising God as the community’s dwelling place for generations. Psalm 90:12, KJV: "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Book Four From Everlasting to Everlasting - A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. The poetic imagery is powerful. Psalms 90:13 >> Psalm 90:12 The phrase "number our days" expresses the thought of putting in order, arranging the use of, or prioritizing time because the end of one's life is fast approaching. In addition to the life setting of crisis, it is important to consider the place of the text in the book of Psalms. With these significant words, עקּבות משׁיחך, the Third Book of the Psalms dies away. Time and its passage are important in these first verses of the psalm. The Hebrew word - מעון mâ‛ôn - means properly a habitation, a dwelling, as of God in his temple, Psalm 26:8; heaven, Psalm 68:5; Deuteronomy 26:15. Contrasting man's frailty with God's eternity, the writer mourns over it as the punishment of sin, and prays for a return of the divine favor. Helen Keller was once quoted as saying, “Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all — the apathy of human beings.”. the other position, e.g., Jeremiah 16:16; (3) consequently כּל־רבּים עמּים may signify the "totality of many peoples" just as well as כּל גּוים רבּים in Ezekiel 31:6. It uses the hands of time to plumb the depths of the human condition and then to point mortals back to eternal God. 3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest Return, ye children of men. 9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath; we spend our years as a tale that is told. Here is a more contemporary prayer: You are the memory of where we have been and the anticipation of where we are going. Ps 90:1-17. It also means a den or lair for wild beasts, Nahum 2:12; Jeremiah 9:11. There the community articulated the crisis in ardent prayer to God to seek God’s help and deliverance. “Our dwelling place”: God is our … Hebrew is the language that the *Jews spoke when they wrote the psalms. Working Preacher Psalm 90:1-12 is a meditation on God, humanity, and time. (Note: The Pasek between חראשׁנים and אדני is not designed merely to remove the limited predicate from the Lord, who is indeed the First and the Last, but also to secure its pronunciation to the guttural Aleph, which might be easily passed over after Mem; cf. This moving portrayal of human life in its brevity leads to a plea for wisdom to be able to reflect on life even in its brevity and live it fully. So the Latin Vulgate, "refugium;" and Luther, "Zuflucht." We have not shifted our abode. in Origen. or ever you had formed the earth and the world,. The Asaph Psalm 77 and the Tephilla Isaiah 63 contain similar complaints, just as in connection with Psalm 89:51 one is reminded of the Asaph Psalm 79:2, Psalm 79:10, and in connection with Psalm 89:52 of Psalm 79:12. Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 set to Rest (86 886) Psalm 90:1-12 set to Rest (86 886) Psalm 90:12-17 set to Amazing Grace (CM 86 86) At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke files, projection text): O God, Our Help in Ages Past 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. in generation and generation Befor Psalm Settings by Dale A. Schoening, Metrical Psalms. Psalm 90:12, ESV: "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." The contrast between divine permanence and human frailty is central to these opening verses. In verses 1 and 17,there is the word Lord. 1 Sharlande Sledge, Prayers & Litanies for the Christian Seasons (Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 1999) 31. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 21:17; Genesis 30:20; Genesis 42:21, and frequently.). God’s perspective is the long view of the creator in which a thousand years are like one day or one night. L. (a) "refugium", V. L. Vatablus; "asylum", Gejerus. Through an exploration of Psalm 90, this article will strive to give answer to the eternal question of meaning and purpose, particularly in the entrepreneurial realm of business. Too often we think in terms of years and make plans for the far distant future, and yet we are instructed to live one day at a time and not to even worry ourselves about the needs of tomorrow, for each day has sufficient trouble of its own. Although we and our fathers, for some generations, have had no certain and fixed habitation, but have been strangers in a land that was not ours, and afflicted for four hundred years, according to thy prediction, Genesis 15:13; and although we now are, and have been for some time, and still are like to continue, in, a vast howling wilderness, having no houses but dwelling in tents, and wandering from place to place, we know not whither; yet thou, O Lord, hast fully supplied this want, and hast been instead of and better than a dwelling-place to us, by thy watchful and gracious providence over us in all places and exigencies. Sermon Bible Commentary. Psalm 90 was penned by Moses, a man with whom the Lord spoke “face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11; see also Numbers 12:7-8). In this psalm, there are 3 words for God: *Lord, *LORD and God. In comparison to the view of the creator, time connotes human frailty and the quick passing of human life. In ancient Israel, crisis brought a response of gathering at the holy place under the leadership of priests and other worship leaders. Such a home is a divine gift. Where, and in what volume, it was preserved from Moses’s time till the collection of psalms was begun to be made, is uncertain; but, being divinely inspired, it was under a special protection: perhaps it was written in … Still, it was possible in that time to relate to God in prayer. A Prayer [mainly such] of Moses the man of God—(De 33:1; Jos 14:6); as such he wrote this (see on [626]Ps 18:1, title, and [627]Ps 36:1, title). When Paul speaks about eschatology — how everything will happen at the end of time — he does so in order to bring comfort to his congregations. Of great importance is Moses’ emphasis to “number our days.” The אשׁר which follows in Psalm 89:52 cannot now be referred back over Psalm 89:51 to חרפּת (quâ calumniâ), and yet the relative sense, not the confirmatory (because, quoniam), is at issue. For traveling with us, for rescuing us when we are lost, and for calling us into your holy place, thanks be to you, O God, our eternal home.1. Psalm 90 is unique because it was written by Moses. Humans come from dust and return to dust. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. A wise heart would bring discernment in dealing with the frailty of life confronting persons and communities. This psalm is titled A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Psalm 90:1-10. Humans, in contrast, are only like a dream or like grass the morning dew renews only to fade and droop in the evening and so only last a day. We are to seek wisdom and to live each day to its fullest for the glory of God. Psalm 90 gives us probably the best biblical perspective of time. In its literary setting in the book of Psalms, then, Psalm 90 is a kind of response to the problem of exile articulated at the end of Psalm 89. 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