| Home | Our Hope | |
| Bible Study |
|
September 24, 2017 |
| Psalm 90 | ||
Most of the chapters in psalms are songs of praise that glorify God, but some of them are a little different. The psalm we will study in this lesson claims to be a prayer prayed by Moses. The events described in the prayer indicate that it would have been prayed at the dedication of the tabernacle that the Israelites built according to God's instructions.
It isn't clear who authored the psalm. It was almost certainly not authored by Moses.
It's more likely that this is someone's, perhaps David's, inspired version of Moses prayer. It doesn't really matter. The truths it expresses are universal.
1 A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
As mentioned in the introduction this psalm was not likely written by Moses. The words that we see here are the same as we see in Deuteronomy 33:1 "Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel." That verse comes at the end of Deuteronomy as Moses is about to die. It is clearly written in third person, likely by Joshua, as the torch is passed down to him.
[…] Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
The psalmist describes God as the dwelling place of mankind. That might seem odd but it's an idea we covered in an earlier lesson (A Creating God)1. Before creation in Genesis 1:1 there was nothing but God, no up or down, left or right, no dimensionality and not even time. God was and he was spirit (not physical).
All that he created he created within himself because he was all there was. Both the Heavens and the physical universe exist in him.
The psalmist's purpose here though is not only to show God as creator of everything but to highlight the eternal nature of God. He was before there was a was, before time or anything existed. He will be for eternity. A year that passes does not reduce the time of his existence.
3 You turn man back into dust and say, "Return, O children of men."
The psalmist now contrasts the existence of God with the existence of man, whose existence is finite and whose destiny is dust. We came into existence by birth and every year that passes hastens the day of our death.
God does this to show us the need to return to him (repent). Because we know our lives are finite and that a judgment day follows, we know there is a choice to be made that can't be delayed. We have only one life to live.
4 For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night. 5 You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; in the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. 6 In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; toward evening it fades and withers away. 7 For we have been consumed by Your anger and by Your wrath we have been dismayed.
For you, says the psalmist, 1000 years is like the dusk time that ends one day and begins another. It's like a length of time at night while you are sleeping; it passes without being noticed or missed. Time means nothing to God's existence.
But existence is important to us. We are fragile. Every day we are faced with the reality of it. Each day a flood of people die. We begin our lives and quickly fade and die. So it matters to us when you are angry with us and punish or destroy us. We are horrified by your wrathful judgments.
The psalmist wants God to understand how differently we perceive things than God does. This is all part of an argument that is being made to support some requests that are coming.
8 You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
The point here is that sin seems like such a small thing to us. If we steal something we soon forget. Even if we regret something we have done - time heals the wound. Yet those sins are continually known by God. The evil things we did that no one ever saw and we thought were hidden, those God brings into his light. The point: man and God even perceive sin differently.
9 For all our days have declined in Your fury; we have finished our years like a sigh.
Your fury at our sins has caused us to be saddened until the day of our death.
10 As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away.
He says, we live for 70 years, 80 if we are strong, but even the best of them is full of work that must be done and sadness. Yet we want to continue to exist but soon we are gone.
11 Who understands the power of Your anger and Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
The NIV translation says verse 11 more clearly
11 If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due. (NIV)
The point is that, because of all these differences between man and God, we do not understand God or his ways very well. The psalmist asks that God show us how to live each day wisely so that, in the end, we may be seen by God to be wise.
This brings to mind a verse from Proverbs.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)
The psalmist has now described how the perspectives of God and man are very different. He now goes on to make some requests based on this foundation.
13 Do return, O Lord; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. 14 O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, and the years we have seen evil.
Remember the context here. Moses is at the dedication of the tabernacle looking back on the sin of the golden calf. So he says return to us; do not stay away from us forever. He asks God to be sorry for his servants, to understand our situation and perspective. Return to us, he says, that we may be glad for as long as the time we were caused to suffer, for as many years as we were troubled.
The idea is that God should return to them so that the rest of their short existence, isn't defined by this sin. Let them be happy again.
The word "return" here is interesting because it echoes verse 3 where it was said God uses our knowledge of death and judgment to get us to return to him. The point then is that they have returned to God, they have built this tabernacle joyfully, with good hearts, according to God's will and God should return to them.
16 Let Your work appear to Your servants and Your majesty to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands.
He closes by asking that God send his glory and majesty to the dwelling place they have built for him. In doing so, God would be confirming that they had followed his instructions.
The Jewish sages say that many of the words in these two verses also appear in the song sung by Moses after the Israelites crossed the sea and it closed in on the Egyptians.
You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. (Exodus 15:17)
The order of the words is different though. The Exodus verse indicates that it was God's original plan to build the temple himself on mount Moriah. The correlation of the words between Psalm 90:16-17 and Exodus 15:17 and the repetition of the phrase "yes, confirm the work of our hands" indicate that Moses is also making a request that God's people be allowed to build that temple for him.
We know that is what happens. David's son, Solomon, will be the one who builds the temple according to the plan given by God.
1 http://skburton.droppages.com/2016-09-25%20ACreatingGod/ACG.html