Psalm 90
1599 Geneva Bible
90 1 Moses in his prayer setteth before us the eternal favor of God toward his, 3 who are neither admonished by the brevity of their life, 7 nor by his plagues to be thankful, 12 therefore Moses prayeth God to turn their hearts, and continue his mercies toward them and their posterity forever.
A prayer of Moses, [a]the man of God.
1 Lord, thou hast been our [b]habitation from generation to generation.
2 Before the [c]mountains were made, and before thou hadst formed the earth, and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art our God.
3 Thou [d]turnest man to destruction: again thou sayest, Return ye sons of Adam.
4 [e]For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
5 Thou hast [f]overflowed them, they are as a sleep, in the morning he groweth like the grass:
6 In the morning it flourisheth and groweth, but in the evening it is cut down and withereth.
7 For we are [g]consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days are past in thine anger: we have [h]spent our years as a thought.
10 The time of our life is threescore years and ten, and if they be of strength, [i]fourscore years: yet their strength is but labor and sorrow: for it is cut off quickly, and we flee away.
11 [j]Who knoweth the power of thy wrath? for according to thy fear is thine anger.
12 Teach us so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto [k]wisdom.
13 Return (O Lord, [l]how long?) and be [m]pacified toward thy servants.
14 Fill us with thy mercy in the morning: so shall we rejoice and be glad all our days?
15 Comfort us according to the days that thou hast afflicted us, and according to the years that we have seen evil.
16 [n]Let thy work be seen toward thy servants, and thy glory upon their [o]children.
17 And let the [p]beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and [q]direct thou the work of our hands upon us, even direct the work of our hands.
Footnotes
- Psalm 90:1 Thus the Scripture useth to call the Prophets.
- Psalm 90:1 Thou hast been as an house and defense unto us in all our troubles and travels now this four hundred years.
- Psalm 90:2 Thou hast chosen us to be thy people before the foundations of the world were laid.
- Psalm 90:3 Moses by lamenting the frailty and shortness of man’s life moveth God to pity.
- Psalm 90:4 Though man thinks his life long, which is indeed most short, yea though it were a thousand years: yet in God’s sight it is as nothing, and as the watch that lasteth but three hours.
- Psalm 90:5 Thou takest them away suddenly as with a flood.
- Psalm 90:7 Thou callest us by thy rods to consider the shortness of our life, and for our sins thou abridgest our days.
- Psalm 90:9 Our days are not only short, but miserable, forasmuch as our sins daily provoke thy wrath.
- Psalm 90:10 Meaning, according to the common state of life.
- Psalm 90:11 If man’s life for the brevity be miserable, much more if thy wrath lie upon it, as they which fear thee, only know.
- Psalm 90:12 Which is, by considering the shortness of our life, and by meditating the heavenly joys.
- Psalm 90:13 Meaning, wilt thou be angry?
- Psalm 90:13 Or, take comfort in thy servants.
- Psalm 90:16 Even thy mercy, which is the chiefest work.
- Psalm 90:16 As God’s promises appertained as well to their posterity, as to them, so Moses prayeth for the posterity.
- Psalm 90:17 Meaning, that is was obscured, when he ceaseth to do good to his Church.
- Psalm 90:17 For except thou guide us with thine holy Spirit, our enterprises can have no good success.
Psalm 90
Common English Bible
BOOK IV
(Psalms 90–106)
Psalm 90
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our help,
generation after generation.
2 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.
3 You return people to dust,
saying, “Go back, humans,”
4 because in your perspective a thousand years
are like yesterday past,
like a short period during the night watch.
5 You sweep humans away like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning.
6 True, in the morning it thrives, renewed,
but come evening it withers, all dried up.
7 Yes, we are wasting away because of your wrath;
we are paralyzed with fear on account of your rage.
8 You put our sins right in front of you,
set our hidden faults in the light from your face.
9 Yes, all our days slip away because of your fury;
we finish up our years with a whimper.
10 We live at best to be seventy years old,
maybe eighty, if we’re strong.
But their duration brings hard work and trouble
because they go by so quickly.
And then we fly off.
11 Who can comprehend the power of your anger?
The honor that is due you corresponds to your wrath.
12 Teach us to number our days
so we can have a wise heart.
13 Come back to us, Lord!
Please, quick!
Have some compassion for your servants!
14 Fill us full every morning with your faithful love
so we can rejoice and celebrate our whole life long.
15 Make us happy for the same amount of time that you afflicted us—
for the same number of years that we saw only trouble.
16 Let your acts be seen by your servants;
let your glory be seen by their children.
17 Let the kindness of the Lord our God be over us.
Make the work of our hands last.
Make the work of our hands last!
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
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