Psalms 90:1 «A Prayer of Moses the man of God. » Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. _A Prayer of Moses_] Made by him, belike, when he saw the carcases of the people fall so fast in the wilderness; committed to writing for the instruction of those that were left alive, but s... [ Continue Reading ]
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God. Ver. 2. _Before the mountains were brought forth_] And they were made at the creation, not cast up by the flood, as some have held. Moses first celebrate... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men._ Ver. 3. _Thou turnest man to destruction_] _Ad minutissimum quiddam,_ so Beza rendereth it, to a very small business, to dust and powder. Others, _ad contritionem vel contusionem,_ by turning loose upon him various diseases... [ Continue Reading ]
For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night. Ver. 4. _For a thousand years in thy sight, &c._] _q.d._ Live men a longer or shorter space, _Serius aut citius,_ thou endest their days; and in comparison of thine eternity, _Puncture est quod... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are [as] a sleep: in the morning [they are] like grass [which] groweth up. Ver. 5. _Thou carriest them away as with a flood_] Suddenly, violently, irresistibly, by particular judgments, besides that general necessity of dying once, Hebrews 9:27. This is... [ Continue Reading ]
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. Ver. 6. _In the morning it flourisheth_] So doth man in his prime and vigour, his bones full of marrow, his breasts of milk. _ In the evening it is cut down_] So is man by death's mortal scythe, which mowe... [ Continue Reading ]
For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. Ver. 7. _For we are consumed by thine anger_] Justly conceived for our sins, Psalms 90:8. This is a cause of death that philosophy discovereth not, as being blind, and not able to see far off, and therefore cannot prescribe any s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light of thy countenance._ Ver. 8. _Thou hast set our iniquities before thee_] As a judge doth the misdeeds of a malefactor, together with the proofs and evidences. _ Our secret sins_] Which we either never took notice of or had u... [ Continue Reading ]
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale [that is told]. Ver. 9. _For all our days are passed away_] Heb. do turn away the face. See Psalms 90:3 . _ We spend our years as a tale that is told_] The grace whereof is brevity, _q.d._ _dicto citius._ Some render it, a... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 10. _The days of our years are threescore, &c._] So Solon in Laertius saith, the term of man's life... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, [so is] thy wrath._ Ver. 11. _Who knoweth the power of thine anger?_] None doth, since it is such as no man can either avoid or abide; and such is men's stupidity, that few will believe till they feel it; no, though their lives be s... [ Continue Reading ]
So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom. Ver. 12. _So teach us to number our days_] The philosopher affirms, that man is therefore the wisest of creatures, because he alone can number, _Bruta non numerant._ But in this divine arithmetic of numbering our days (to... [ Continue Reading ]
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. Ver. 13. _Let it repent thee_] Or, comfort thou thy servants.... [ Continue Reading ]
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Ver. 14. _O satisfy us early_] As thou didst our fathers with manna.... [ Continue Reading ]
Make us glad according to the days [wherein] thou hast afflicted us, [and] the years [wherein] we have seen evil. Ver. 15. _Make us glad according_] Let us have a proportion at least.... [ Continue Reading ]
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. Ver. 16. _Let thy work appear_] Thy proper work, which is to show mercy; for to do justice is thy work, thy strange work, Isaiah 28:21 . _ And thy glory unto their children_] That they at least may enter into the land of Can... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 17. _And let the beauty of the Lord, &c._] _i.e._ The bounty; the Italian rendereth it, _La Giocondita, jucunditas Domini sit in nos._ And establi... [ Continue Reading ]