The Bible — World English Bible

Psalm 90

In brief

Psalm 90 is the only psalm attributed to Moses. It is a prayer that begins with a statement: God has been a dwelling place for all generations, and he is God from everlasting to everlasting. Before him, human life seems brief, like grass that sprouts in the morning and withers by evening. Moses also acknowledges the seriousness of sin and God's anger, then asks: teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. The psalm ends with a prayer for compassion, for gladness and for work that God makes firm.

According to its title, Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses, the man of God. It is the only psalm attributed to Moses, and it opens the fourth book of the Psalms. Deuteronomy already gives Moses this title, man of God (Deuteronomy 33:1). The psalm blends communal lament with wisdom meditation: it sets the eternity of God face to face with the brevity of human life, marked by sin. The title gives no circumstances. Some readers hear an echo of the forty years in the wilderness, when a whole generation died, but the text does not say so. Verse 4 is taken up in the second letter of Peter (2 Peter 3:8). Today this psalm is often read at funerals, at the turn of a new year or on a birthday, when you become aware of time passing and want to live it with God.

The chapter in 4 parts

  1. v. 1-2Lord, you have been our dwelling place through all generations
  2. v. 3-6People pass like grass, God remains
  3. v. 7-12Sin, the shortness of our days and wisdom
  4. v. 13-17A prayer for compassion and for lasting work

1Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.

2Before the mountains were born, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

3You turn man to destruction, saying, “Return, you children of men.”

4For a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night.

5You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass.

6In the morning it sprouts and springs up. By evening, it is withered and dry.

7For we are consumed in your anger. We are troubled in your wrath.

8You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9For all our days have passed away in your wrath. We bring our years to an end as a sigh.

10The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.

11Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?

12So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!

14Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.

16Let your work appear to your servants, your glory to their children.

17Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.

Understanding Psalm 90 verse by verse

v. 1-2Before the mountains, God was already our dwelling place

Moses does not begin with the problem but with God. Before he speaks of death and human frailty, he says to the Lord, “you have been our dwelling place for all generations.” The Hebrew word for dwelling place can also mean a refuge, a place where you live in safety. Generations pass, and so do wildernesses and exiles, but God remains the home of his people. Verse 2 reaches back further than history: before the mountains were born, before he formed the earth and the world, God is God, from everlasting to everlasting. The mountains, a symbol of what seems most stable, have a beginning; he does not. For you, this is the anchor of the whole psalm: your life is short and fragile, but it can take shelter in the one who does not change and who was already carrying those who came before you.

v. 3-6Human life, as brief as the grass of a single day

Before this eternal God, the human being appears in all his frailty. Verse 3 echoes the word in Genesis: you are dust, and to dust you will return (Genesis 3:19). Verse 4 changes the scale: a thousand years are to God like a day already gone, or like a watch in the night, those few hours of guard duty that slip by unnoticed when you are asleep. The apostle Peter takes up this idea to explain God's patience (2 Peter 3:8). Then come two images: life slips away like sleep, and like grass that sprouts in the morning and is withered and dry by evening. These verses are not trying to depress you. They tell the truth to free you from an illusion: you are not the master of time. The prophet Isaiah will say the same, adding that the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).

v. 7-11Our hidden sins in the light of God

Moses goes further than simply observing that life is short. He ties our frailty to something graver: sin, and God's anger against it. Verse 8 is striking: “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.” Nothing escapes God, not even what we hide from others and from ourselves. Verse 10 speaks of a life of seventy years, or eighty for the sturdiest: this is not a promise but an observation, and even the best years carry their share of toil and sorrow. Verse 11 asks a question: who truly grasps the power of God's anger and gives him the reverence he is due? This passage does not say that every trial punishes a specific fault. It describes the human condition since the first disobedience (Genesis 3). For the Christian, this clear-eyed honesty leads to the cross: Jesus carried our sins, and there is no condemnation for those who are in him (Romans 8:1).

v. 12Learning to count our days so that we become wise

Here is the heart of the psalm, and one of the most quoted verses in the Bible: “So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” To count your days (older translations say to number them) does not mean living in dread of death or calculating your life expectancy. It means accepting realistically that time is limited and letting that truth reorder your priorities. Notice that Moses is not content to say that we must count. He asks God to teach us, because we forget so quickly that life is short. The goal is wisdom, the art of living God's way day by day: loving, forgiving, serving, making peace without waiting. For you, this prayer can become very concrete. Since your days are limited, what truly deserves your time today, and what do you keep putting off?

v. 13-15Relent, Lord: satisfy us every morning with your loving kindness

The tone changes: after meditation comes supplication. “Relent, Yahweh! How long?” Moses had already prayed like this after the golden calf, asking God to turn back from his fierce anger (Exodus 32:12). Here he does not demand what he is owed; he asks for compassion for God's servants. Verse 14 is a beautiful prayer: to be satisfied every morning with God's loving kindness, the word that describes his faithful love, the love that never lets go of his people. The book of Lamentations will say that his kindnesses are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Verse 15 even dares to ask for as many days of gladness as there were days of affliction. It is an honest prayer: it does not deny suffering, but it believes that God can give joy back. You can make it your own after a long, hard season.

v. 16-17May your favor establish the work of our hands

The psalm ends by looking ahead. Moses asks that God's work appear to his servants and that his glory rest on their children. The psalm opened on past generations; it closes on those to come: faith is handed down. Then comes the final request, repeated twice like a cry from the heart: “Establish the work of our hands.” Our life is short, but it is not in vain when God gives solidity to what we do. Our work, the raising of children, service in the church and the quiet acts of faithfulness nobody sees can bear fruit beyond us. The apostle Paul says the same: your labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). It all begins with the favor of the Lord our God resting on us: his favor, not our frantic activity, is what makes a life fruitful.

How to pray Psalm 90

When to pray this psalm

  • The evening of a funeral, when the death of someone close reminds you that life is short.
  • At the start of a new year or on your birthday, to take stock of your priorities.
  • When you feel you are always running and wasting your time without knowing why.
  • When the weight of a hidden sin keeps you from being at peace before God.
  • After a long season of trial, when you need God to give you back your joy.
  • Before starting a project, a new job or a ministry, to entrust it to God.

A prayer inspired by Psalm 90

Lord, you have been our dwelling place from one generation to the next. Before the mountains were born, you were already God, and you always will be. I am fragile: my life passes like a sleep, like the grass that sprouts in the morning and withers by evening. I forget that so often. I run, I worry, I put off what really matters. You also know my hidden sins, the ones I dare not tell anyone. I bring them to you, and I thank you for Jesus, who carried them to the cross. Teach me to count my days, so that my heart may grow wise. Show me what deserves my time today. Turn back toward me when I feel far from you. Satisfy me every morning with your loving kindness, and give me back joy after the hard days. Let your work be seen in my life, in the lives of my children and of the young people you place on my path. Let your favor rest on me, and establish the work of my hands. Amen.

Key verses

Verse 1-2
Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations. Before the mountains were born, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

Moses starts with God and not with his misfortune: a stable refuge in a passing world, eternal before the mountains and before the earth.

Verse 4
For a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night.

A thousand years are like a day to God. This image invites us to put our urgencies in perspective and to recognize that his time is not ours.

Verse 12
So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

A prayer for wisdom: becoming aware that our days are numbered so that we live them wisely, without anxiety but with responsibility.

Verse 17
Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.

The final request is that God's favor rest on us and establish the work of our hands: what matters comes from him.

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What the sermons say

Psalm 90: Comfort When You Think About Your Own DeathHugues Wessel presents the psalm as a comfort in the face of death: a stable refuge in a passing world. He invites us to imagine that today is the last day, and to review our priorities.Read the summary →Like Eagles: The Creator Renews Your StrengthThe preacher cites verse 4, a thousand years are like yesterday, in an end-of-year message on the question of hope: on whom does ours rest?Read the summary →John 6: When Jesus Puts You Face to Face with His Goodness, 4 Life LessonsOn the subject of responsibility, the preacher cites verse 12: numbering our days well means not wasting the time and resources God entrusts to us, for the good of our neighbor.Read the summary →

Frequently asked questions about Psalm 90

What does Psalm 90 mean?

It is a prayer of Moses that contrasts God's eternity with the brevity of human life. In the face of death and frailty, God is a dwelling place from generation to generation. Moses asks for the wisdom to number his days, then for God's compassion and his favor on the work of human hands.

What does teach us to number our days mean?

Verse 12 asks God to make us aware that life is limited, so that we live wisely. It is not about living in fear of death, but about using time well, favoring what lasts and turning to God.

How do you pray Psalm 90?

Start with verses 1 and 2: thank God for being your refuge. Then pray verse 12, asking him to teach you to use your days well. Entrust to him one priority to reconsider. Finish with verse 17 by asking God to establish what you do with him.

Articles quoting Psalm 90

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World English Bible translation — public domain.