Psalm 90

This is the oldest psalm in the Psalms, and it was written by Moses, the man of God (Josh. 14:6; Ezra 3:2). It deals with themes that began with the fall of our first parents and will continue to be important and puzzling until the return of our Savior: eternal God and frail humans, a holy God and sinful man, life and death, and the meaning of life in a confused and difficult world. It’s possible that Moses wrote this psalm after Israel’s failure of faith at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 13–14), when the nation was condemned to journey in the wilderness for forty years until the older generation died. That tragedy was followed by the death of Moses’ sister, Miriam (Num. 20:1), and his brother, Aaron (Num. 20:22-29). And between those two deaths, Moses disobeyed the Lord and struck the rock (Num. 20:2-13). How did Moses manage to become a “man of God” after forty years in pagan Egypt that ended in failure, forty years in Midian as a humble shepherd, and forty more leading a funeral march through the wilderness? Life was not easy for Moses, but he triumphed, and in this psalm he shared his insights so that we, too, might have strength for the journey and end well.