Psalms 90:10

The punctuation of A.V. is misleading. Render:

The days of our years therein are threescore years and ten,

And if we be of much strength, fourscore years:

And their pride is but travail and misery,

For it is swiftly past, and we have taken flight.

Our lifetime (Genesis 47:8-9) is but short at best; and all its ostentation, all upon which man prides himself, does but bring trouble and has no real value (Job 5:6). Is the Psalmist thinking of the contrast between the triumphant utterance of Numbers 23:21, "Misery hath not been beheld in Jacob, nor travail been seen in Israel," and present experience? For taken flightcp. Job 20:8.