BOOK IV

Psalms 90–106

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place(A)
    throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born(B)
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting(C) you are God.(D)

You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”(E)
A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.(F)
Yet you sweep people away(G) in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.(H)

We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins(I) in the light of your presence.(J)
All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.(K)
10 Our days may come to seventy years,(L)
    or eighty,(M) if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,(N)
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.(O)
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath(P) is as great as the fear that is your due.(Q)
12 Teach us to number our days,(R)
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.(S)

13 Relent, Lord! How long(T) will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.(U)
14 Satisfy(V) us in the morning with your unfailing love,(W)
    that we may sing for joy(X) and be glad all our days.(Y)
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.(Z)

17 May the favor[a] of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.(AA)

Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter(AB) of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow(AC) of the Almighty.[b]
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge(AD) and my fortress,(AE)
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare(AF)
    and from the deadly pestilence.(AG)
He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;(AH)
    his faithfulness will be your shield(AI) and rampart.
You will not fear(AJ) the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.(AK)

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm(AL) will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels(AM) concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;(AN)
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.(AO)
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.(AP)

14 “Because he[c] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.(AQ)
16 With long life(AR) I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.(AS)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 90:17 Or beauty
  2. Psalm 91:1 Hebrew Shaddai
  3. Psalm 91:14 That is, probably the king

Book Four

There are endless reasons to praise God, and many of them are included in the Book of Psalms. Book Four (Psalms 90–106) is made up of songs that praise and celebrate God for His creation, strength, work in history, and kingship. Although these songs are written to honor God, many require something from us. Throughout these psalms is the Hebrew word hallelujah, translated “Praise the Eternal!” That’s not just a passive verb, as in, “Praise be to the Eternal”; it’s an active imperative! We are commanded to praise Him. We are commanded to join angels above, people below, and all creatures in praising Him!

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses, a man of God.

Lord, You have always been our refuge.
    Our ancestors made You their home long ago.
Before mountains were born,
    before You fashioned the earth and filled it with life,
    from ages past to distant futures,
    You are truly God.

You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Go back to the dust, children of Adam.”
For You a thousand years is like a day when it is over,
    a watch during the night;
    there is no difference to You.

5-6 You release the waters of death to sweep mankind away in his slumber.
    In the morning, we are blades of grass,
Growing rapidly under the sun but withering quickly;
    yet in the evening, we fade and die, soon to be cut down.

For Your anger has consumed us.
    Your wrath has shaken us to the core
    and left us deeply troubled.
You have written our offenses before You—
    the light of Your presence shines brightly on our secret sins,
    and we can’t run or hide.

For all our days are spent beneath Your wrath;
    our youth gives way to old age, and then
    one day our years come to an end with a sigh.
10 We may journey through life for 70 years;
    some may live and breathe 80 years—if we are strong.
Yet our time here is only toil and trouble;
    soon our days are gone, and we fly away.
11 Who can truly comprehend the power unleashed by Your anger?
    Your wrath matches the fear that is due to You.
12 Teach us to number our days
    so that we may truly live and achieve wisdom.

13 How long will we wait here alone?
    Return, O Eternal One, with mercy.
    Rescue Your servants with compassion.
14 With every sun’s rising, surprise us with Your love,
    satisfy us with Your kindness.
    Then we will sing with joy and celebrate every day we are alive.
15 You have spent many days afflicting us with pain and sorrow;
    now match those with years of unspent joy.
16 Let Your work of love be on display for all Your servants;
    let Your children see Your majesty.
17 And then let the beauty and grace of the Lord—our God—rest upon us
    and bring success to all we do;
    yes, bring success to all we do!

Psalm 91

He who takes refuge in the shelter of the Most High
    will be safe in the shadow of the Almighty.
He will say to the Eternal, “My shelter, my mighty fortress,
    my God, I place all my trust in You.”
For He will rescue you from the snares set by your enemies who entrap you
    and from deadly plagues.
Like a bird protecting its young, God will cover you with His feathers,
    will protect you under His great wings;
    His faithfulness will form a shield around you, a rock-solid wall to protect you.

Psalm 91 is a beautiful psalm of trust in God. But how does God take care of all His people, all at the same time? Well, keep reading because Psalm 91 is one of just a few places in Scripture that describe what we might call “guardian angels” (Exodus 23:20; Psalm 43:3). Though rare, these passages teach that God is not alone in maintaining and protecting His creation and His people. He has made a host of heavenly messengers ready to do His bidding, and His bidding is often to guard His people throughout their lives and protect them—sometimes from dangers they are not even aware of.

You will not dread the terrors that haunt the night
    or enemy arrows that fly in the day
Or the plagues that lurk in darkness
    or the disasters that wreak havoc at noon.

A thousand may fall on your left,
    ten thousand may die on your right,
    but these horrors won’t come near you.
Only your eyes will witness
    the punishment that awaits the evil,
    but you will not suffer because of it.

For you made the Eternal [your][a] refuge,
    the Most High your only home.
10 No evil will come to you;
    plagues will be turned away at your door.

11 He will command His heavenly messengers to guard you,
    to keep you safe in every way.
12 They will hold you up in their hands
    so that you will not crash, or fall, or even graze your foot on a stone.[b]
13 You will walk on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the lion and the serpent underfoot.

14 “Because he clings to Me in love,
    I will rescue him from harm;
    I will set him above danger.
Because he has known Me by name,
15 He will call on Me, and I will answer.
    I’ll be with him through hard times;
    I’ll rescue him and grant him honor.
16 I’ll reward him with many good years on this earth
    and let him witness My salvation.”

Footnotes

  1. 91:9 Hebrew manuscripts read, “who is my.”
  2. 91:11–12 Matthew 4:6; Luke 4:10–11

90 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.

Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

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.

11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

13 Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.

17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.