Psalm 90

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers
All rights reserved.

Is this the prayer of a pessimist or a realist? "All our days pass away under your wrath.". Our life is just toil and trouble, (sounds like Ecclesiastes). Even the people who lived as long as a thousand years (like the long-lived people before the flood), are still powerless in the face of God who sweeps them away. Most of us only live for 70 or maybe 80 years. And how can we deal with a God who knows all our secret faults, who sets our sins in front of him so he can see them, who brings us to an end in his anger and returns us to the dust from which we came? It does sound pretty pessimistic, or at least it describes the thoughts of a person who is up against it, whose life is difficult and full of trouble and toil.

The heading of the psalm says it is a prayer of Moses, the man of God.  Can we imagine Moses composing this prayer? Perhaps in Egypt while the people were toiling in slavery, these kinds of thoughts could come to mind. Many of us in the present time find our work or life situation difficult and often without hope of improvement. We can easily associate with the feelings expressed in the psalm.

But it is not just a complaint or a lament. The psalm begins by reminding God about his past. He has always been the place where his people lived securely (as Isaac Watts paraphrased it - see Australian Hymn Book 46; Songs of Fellowship 415, or here on the web).  He is God from everlasting to everlasting - in contrast to us who, even if we lived for a thousand years, would still occupy only an insignificant fraction of time.

It is this contrast between God's greatness, power, and eternity and our smallness and fragility that redeems the pessimism. The prayer is spoken to the everlasting God who has always been the place where his people lived. There was never a time when his people did not live in his presence. That is what being his people means.

And although much of the psalm reflects the danger of living in the presence of God -  he sees our sins and brings his wrath on us - it also appeals to the same power and ownership of God to help his people.

Like Job, the prayer asks God to relent, to turn back to us, to have mercy, to show compassion, to satisfy us with his love every morning.  Moses the man of God has given us an example of what to do when things are bleak and difficult. Lamenting is good, but hope lies in calling on the God who has said he is our God. The psalm appeals to God to act, to help, to show favour, to make us glad.

The prayer also asks for help in our understanding of time. Time is very important in the psalm, how long God exists for (from everlasting to everlasting), how long we live for (80 years if we are healthy), how long God thinks a thousand years are (not very long), especially how long the days of our life are. So we want to learn how to count our days. Not how to calculate our age or work out how much longer before we are 70, but rather to be able to account for our days. That is, to be able to have some explanation both for the shortness of our life and the trouble that fills it. If we can understand that then we will have a wise heart.

And does the Psalmist understand it? How does he count his days? He knows we live a short life because we are made from the dust (unlike God), and he knows that we live in a world under God's judgment. But he knows his days are from God, and he knows that the God who gave him life from the dust is also able to make him happy.  He knows that despite his sin, God is able to show mercy and compassion. He knows God is splendid and wonderful and can fill his days with love and blessing. He counts his days as days which can be filled not only with toil and trouble but with gladness and joy. Because he understand that, he wisely calls out to God.

Dale

Can you believe this Psalm? In what way are we to understand it? It seems such a wonderful guarantee of a trouble-free life, and yet it is hard to think of anyone for whom it is true.

But on closer reading it is not describing a trouble-free life at all. Quite the contrary. The Psalm seems to be an encouragement to people who are surrounded by dangers and troubles: from kidnappers, epidemics, night terrors, civil conflict, rampant disease, dangerous animals and more.

Notice the verbs of encouragement: he will deliver, he will cover, you will not fear, you will see the punishment, angels will guard you, bear you up...

They are words about helping and rescuing, for people in trouble. But how quickly will he act? How many times will he allow these things to happen?  Jesus thought God would come to the help of his people with speed (Luke 18.7). But he also doubted that when the Son of Man returned there would be much faith on the earth (Luke 18.8). Troubles keep coming, so the person who trusts God has to keep on calling out to God for help.

The Psalmist encouraged the readers to live in the presence of the Most High where there was shelter; to keep on saying to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.’ The people of God who are in danger are to make the Lord their refuge, the Most high their dwelling place (v9), they are to love him and call to him.

Continuing to trust, and persisting in calling out to God requires perseverance. It is easy to give up, easy to take revenge ourselves, easy to look for other safety nets. But the safety and long life is only found in the presence of the Most High.

But does it work in practice? Who are the people who have found it to be true?

Job? Perhaps in one way Job found this to be true. The rescue did not seem very fast, and he did lose much, but he stayed where God was and argued with God, until in the end he saw God and was content.

Jesus? The devil encouraged Jesus to try out this Psalm by jumping off the top of the Temple. Jesus knew that the Psalm wasn't referring to that kind of self-focussed grand-standing (although Mark tells us there were both wild animals and angels with Jesus during the temptation). But what about when he was arrested?  Jesus certainly thought that the Father could send him thousands of angels if he asked (Matt 26.53). But he did not ask, in order that the scriptures would be fulfilled.

Jesus suffering lights up another aspect of life which we need to place alongside this Psalm. Peter thought that Jesus left us an example of how to suffer (1 Peter 2.21ff). Paul thought there were some advantages in suffering, that he was strongest when he was weak, because then the power of God was brought to its full effect (2 Cor 12.9).

In each of these lives the trouble was still temporary. There was the confident hope that God would rescue them. In Paul's case he was rescued on many occasions from hostile crowds or situations. So was Jesus for that matter. It is when we come to the death of Jesus that we see this Psalm being put to the greatest test. And God does what the Psalm promised: he raises him from the grave. On the basis of this Paul can assure those who belong to Jesus that nothing will ever be able to separate them from the love of God either (Rom 8.31ff).

So we can believe it:

When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honour them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

Dale

This is the psalm of a happy person who wants to sing. But did they always want to sing like this? Were there times when they were not happy? It is called a psalm for the Sabbath, but what about last Wednesday or Monday? Why are they happy now and why does that make this a Sabbath Psalm?

The cause of happiness is the work of the Lord. Especially, it seems, in bringing about the defeat of the enemies of the psalmist. In a way it is a victory psalm, or a song of thanksgiving for victory.

But victory thanksgivings presuppose struggles. In fact here the outcome of the struggle was not at all clear - at least for those who were defeated - and probably also for the victors.

The outcome has shown clearly that "you, O Lord, are on high for ever". Last Monday the Psalmist may have been down in the dumps. But on the Sabbath he gives thanks that God continues to help the righteous flourish.

But what about next Wednesday? Another struggle is sure to happen. And then we will have to trust the Lord in the same way as before. We will look forward to the same kind of outcome for the same reason - the Most High is on high and he is our Rock.

And after a lifetime of struggle and seeing the work of the Lord, the righteous are living proof that the Lord is a rock, completely faithful, never unreliable or unjust.

So why is this a Sabbath Psalm? Because for one thing the joy in seeing God's work ought to be proclaimed in the assembly. Not everyone will be happy. Some will still be struggling, feeling overwhelmed by their foes, and so the songs of joy of others will help lift them up.

Also if one is going to sing (with a band!) one needs an audience. In fact the psalmist assumes that the thanksgiving is spoken out loud so others can hear.

But the Sabbath is exactly the right day for this kind of victory thanksgiving because it is the day that represents God's salvation, the completion of his final work, when all his people will enter into his rest.

And even though young people may be able to make more noise, it is the old timers who have most to say about the works of the Lord. And words like this can be heard by those who are still sad, or troubled, or overwhelmed. We may not be able to sing this psalm every Sabbath, but it is there as a model for all those times when we too sing praises to the Most High for exalting us again.

Dale