Psalms 90 - Introduction

This psalm is one of the most remarkable in the whole collection. It is said, in the title, to be “A Prayer of Moses, the man of God;” or, as it is in the margin, “being a Psalm of Moses.” The original word - תפלה t^ephillâh - means properly

(1) intercession, supplication for anyone;

(2) prayer or supplication in general;

(3) a hymn or inspired song.

Gesenius, Lexicon. In Psalms 72:20, the word is applied to the whole preceding part of the Book of Psalms - “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.” The word “prayer” would better represent the nature of the contents of this psalm than the word “psalm,” or “hymn.”

If the author was Moses, then this is the only one of his compositions which we have in the Book of Psalms. We know, from not a few places in the Pentateuch, that Moses was a poet as well as a lawgiver and statesman; and it would not be improbable that there might have been some compositions of his of this nature which were not incorporated in the five books that he wrote, and which would be likely to be preserved by tradition. This psalm bears internal evidence that it may have been such a composition. There is no local allusion which would make it necessary to suppose that it was written at a later period; there is nothing inconsistent with the sentiments and style of Moses in the Pentateuch; there is much that is in accordance with his style and manner; and there were numerous occasions when the sentiments of the psalm would be exceedingly suitable to the circumstances in which he was, and to the train of thoughts which we may suppose to have passed through his mind. The following remarks of Prof. Alexander seem to me to be eminently just and appropriate: “The correctness of the title which ascribes the psalm to Moses is confirmed by its unique simplicity and grandeur; its appropriateness to his times and circumstances; its resemblance to the law in urging the connection between sin and death; its similarity of diction to the poetical portions of the Pentateuch, without the slightest trace of imitation or quotation; its marked unlikeness to the Psalms of David, and still more to those of later date; and finally the proved impossibility of plausibly assigning it to any other age or author.” As a relic thus of most ancient times - as coming down from the most remarkable man in the Jewish history, if not in the world - as well as for its own instructive beauty and appropriateness to all times and lands - it is a composition of great interest and value.

This psalm is placed at the beginning of the fourth book of the Psalter, according to the ancient traditional division of the Psalms. Or, perhaps, the author of the arrangement - probably Ezra - designed to place this “by itself” between the two great divisions of the book, containing respectively the earlier and the later psalms. It may be regarded, therefore, as “the heart or center of the whole collection,” suggesting thoughts appropriate to the entire current of thought in the book.

The phrase, “the man of God,” in the title, is given to Moses in Deuteronomy 33:1; Joshua 14:6; Ezra 3:2; as a title especially appropriate to him, denoting that he was faithful to God; that he was a man approved by God. The title is indeed given to others, Judges 13:6, Judges 13:8; 1 Samuel 2:27; 1Sa 9:6-8; 1 Kings 12:22, et al.; but there was a special appropriateness in the title as given to Moses on account of his character, his eminent rank, and his influence in founding the Hebrew commonwealth.

It is impossible, of course, now to determine the time when the psalm was composed, but it may not improbably be supposed to have been near the close of the wanderings in the wilderness. The Hebrew people were about to enter the promised land; the generation that came out of Egypt was passing away; Moses himself felt that he was near the end of his course, for he had been apprized that he could not enter the land of promise to the borders of which he had conducted the people. These things were eminently suited to suggest such views of the shortness of human life, and of its frailty, as are here presented. At the same time, all these circumstances were suited to suggest the reference to the future, and the prayer in respect to that future, with which the psalm so beautifully closes. It seems, then, not improper to regard this psalm as one of the last utterances of Moses, when the wanderings of the Hebrew people were about to cease; when an entire generation had been swept off; and when his own labors were soon to close.

The main subject of the psalm is the brevity - the transitory nature - of human life; the reflections on which seem designed to lead the soul up to God, who does not die. The races of people are cut down like grass, but God remains the same from age to age. One generation finds him the same as the previous generation had found him - unchanged, and as worthy of confidence as ever. None of these changes can affect him, and there is in each age the comforting assurance that he will be found to be the refuge, the support, the “dwelling-place” of his people.

The psalm consists of the following parts:

I. The fact that God is unchanging; that he is the refuge of his people, and always has been; that from the eternity past to the eternity to come, he is the same - he alone is God, Psalms 90:1.

II. The frailty of man - the brevity of human life - as contrasted with this unchanging nature - this eternity - of God, Psalms 90:3. Man is turned to destruction; he is carried away as with a flood; his life is like a night’s sleep; the human race is like grass which is green in the morning and is cut down at evening; - human existence is like a tale that is told - brief as a meditation - and narrowed down to threescore years and ten.

III. A prayer that the living might be able so to number their days - to take such an account of life as to apply the heart to wisdom; - to make the most of life, or to be truly wise, Psalms 90:12.

IV. A prayer for those who were to follow - for the coming generation - that God would continue his favors; that though the present generation must die, yet that God, who is unchanging and eternal, would meet the next generation, and all the generations to come, with the same mercies and blessings, enjoyed by those who went before them - prolonging these to all future time, Psalms 90:13.

The psalm, therefore, has a universal applicability. Its sentiments and its petitions are as appropriate now as they were in the time of Moses. The generations of people pass away as certainly and as rapidly now as they did then; but it is as true now as it was then, that God is unchanging, and that he is the “dwelling-place” - the home - of his people.