Thoughts on Psalm 90:1-10 by Richard T. Ritenbaugh
"Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. (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. (3) You turn man to destruction,
And say, Return, O children of men.(4) For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. (5) You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. in the morning they are like grass which grows up: (6) In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers. (7) For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified. (8) You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. (9) For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. (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.
And say, Return, O children of men.(4) For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. (5) You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. in the morning they are like grass which grows up: (6) In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers. (7) For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified. (8) You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. (9) For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. (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.
Psalm 90 gives us probably the best biblical perspective of time. This psalm, the only one attributed to Moses, compares how man and God view time and life. His conclusion, of course, is that man and God look at time from entirely different perspectives. It is this difference in point of view that makes a huge difference in how we conduct our lives.
Moses begins by asserting that God is everlasting and almighty (verses 1-2). He can destroy men's lives, and a thousand years later, He resurrects them to life with a word (verses 3-4)!
Thousands of years can pass, and God can still bring people back from the dead! Man has no power over death, but God can, has, and will overcome time and death by the power of the resurrection. To God, these thousands of years pass swiftly "like yesterday . . . like a watch in the night."
This is far different from man's point of view. "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" (verse 10). Ethan, the psalmist of Psalm 89:47-48, echoes this in his plea to God:
Remember how short my time is; for what futility have You created all the children of men? W
hat man can live and not see death?
Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah.
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