This word means, to pass through, to pass over, to pass away; and then, to cause to pass over, as the quails were Numbers 11:31 by the east wind. Yet is their strength - Hebrew, "Their pride." Moses says most of them are dying at seventy years of age. I invite you then to There can be no doubt that there are good reasons - some of which could be easily suggested - why his term of life is no longer. Eleg. Meaning of Psalm 90:10. The second comparison is an advance upon the first, and an advance also in form, from the fact that the Caph similitudinis is wanting: a thousand years are to God a watch in the night. In most cases, a person can expect to live somewhere around 70 or 80 years, barring disease or misfortune. It will scarcely be doubted that in such cases the second judgment, if not absolutely just, is the more just in comparison. Sign up for our free daily newsletter. The remainder of Psalm 90 gives details about God’s wrath against sin and about the meaning of life. constr. It is clear that השׁיב עד־דּכּא is intended to be understood according to Genesis 3:19; but it is a question whether דּכּא is conceived of as an adjective (with mutable aa), as in Psalm 34:19, Isaiah 57:15 : Thou puttest men back into the condition of crushed ones (cf. Herodotus, l. 1. sive Clio, c. 32. // And have mercy upon Your servants For it is soon cut off.—This seems hardly to give, as it professes to do, a reason for the fact that the prolongation of life beyond its ordinary limit brings trouble and sorrow, and we are compelled to see if the words can convey a different meaning. p. 36. Psalms 90:10 "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." Psalm 90:10, ESV : "The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away." The old man is constantly in the condition of one who is weary; whose powers are exhausted; and who feels the need of repose. Verse 90:10 seems to consist of popular sayings about the brevity and insignifi-cance of human life. Psalm 90:10, NIV: "Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away." Book IV looks back to the time of Moses and the Exodus. That of which a man who has reached that period might be disposed to boast - as if it were owing to himself. What Psalm 90 means. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Psalm 90 gives us probably the best biblical perspective of time. follows. Psalm 90 is the 90th psalm from the Book of Psalms.In the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and in its Latin translation in the Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 89 in a slightly different numbering system. A day that is past, as we stand on the end of it, still produces upon us the impression of a course of time by reason of the events which we can recall; but a night passed in sleep, and now even a fragment of the night, is devoid of all trace to us, and is therefore as it were timeless. Hofmann and Hitzig take תּשׁב as imperfect on account of the following ותּאמר: Thou didst decree mortality for men; but the fut. Though some are of the opinion that these words do not give an account of the duration of man's life in general, but refer to the short lives of the Israelites in the wilderness, yet I do not see but it may take in both; and Moses who composed the Psalm, lived a hundred and twenty years … Moses wrote this psalm. The word used here - גז gāz - is commonly supposed to be derived from גזז gâzaz, to cut, as to cut grass, or to mow; and then, to shear, sc. In Psalm 90 Moses focuses on God’s greatness, our human weakness, and our need for the Lord to provide grace for our daily needs. How little desirable is it for a man to reach extreme old age! This psalm, the only one attributed to Moses, compares how man and God view time and life. 168 - The Ultimate Salvation, The Oil of Joy. Find & sort all our resources. Psalm 90:10 says we’re given a lifespan of about 70 years. Our earthly lives will not last long, and we need wisdom to prepare for what follows. “Yet are these feet, whose strengthless stay is numb, Swift winged with desire to get a grave.”. 208 - The First Day of the First Month. “Threescore years … fourscore years”: Though Moses lived to be 120 years old, and his “eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated” (Deut. NCV. The psalmist combined these sayings and wove them into a powerful premise for his fundamental plea in v. 13: "Return, O God! The poet intentionally calls the generation that is dying away אנושׁ, which denotes man from the side of his frailty or perishableness; and the new generation בּני־אדם, with which is combined the idea of entrance upon life. will show, the psalms repeat themselves; certain thoughts found in one psalm are found, almost word-for-word, in other psalms. We must consider the whole Psalm as written for the tribes in the desert, and then we shall see the primary meaning of each verse. He has been a man of God all his life and I hate to see this happen to him, but he has instructed all his family to pray, not for healing, but that Father’s Will be done. If we have a strong constitution, we could live to see 80 but that last 10 years could involve fighting against various illnesses, as if we’re just delaying the inevitable, because when all is said and done we’re going to “fly away” just the same. Through an exploration of Psalm 90, this article will strive to give answer to the eternal question of meaning and purpose, particularly in the entrepreneurial realm of business. God has given men and women a life span of seventy years in this flesh body. consec. His teachings made the Bible clear and easy to understand, and impacted millions of lives. I have a question  –  I would like to read an expansion of Psalm 90:10 where we are given three score years and ten but perhaps to eighty with tribulations. The lxx misses the meaning when it brings over אל from Psalm 90:2, and reads אל־תּשׁב. (b) Laertius in Vita Solon. It was written by a godly man who lived to the age of 120 years (Deuteronomy 34:7. Psalm 90:1-10. 1. Psalm 143:10(NASB) Verse Thoughts. it is … cut off—or, "driven," as is said of the quails in using the same word (Nu 11:31). Download our eBooks to read on your computers, phone, tablet, or eReader. The days of our years are three score years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. // Till when? Including photos each week from our outreaches and the weekly review. Psalm 90:10 - The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength. on the construction Numbers 24:24), or whether as a neutral feminine from דּך ( equals דּכּה): Thou changest them into that which is crushed equals dust, or whether as an abstract substantive like דּכּה, or according to another reading (cf. Browse, sort & search all Bible Study resources. A prayer of Moses, the man of God. All rights reserved. for it is in them that such a number of years is arrived unto; or "in them", that is, in some of them; in some of mankind, their years amount hereunto, but not in all: "and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years"; through a good temperament of body, a healthful and strong constitution, under a divine blessing, some may arrive to the age of eighty; there have been some instances of a strong constitution at this age and upwards, but not very common; see Joshua 14:11, for, generally speaking, such who through strength of body live to such an age. A thousand years, which would make any man who might live through them weary of life, are to Him like a vanishing point. l. 6. p. 685, 686. (i) Meaning according to the common state of life. Here, in part, is what I said: But the conclusion of all this, is that there is something we should do: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90.12) What does it mean to number our days? The fact that God causes one generation to die off has as its consequence that He calls another into being (cf. Macrob. Perhaps in no circumstances will the danger of pride be more imminent than when one has thus passed safely through dangers where others have fallen, and practiced temperance while others have yielded to habits of intemperance, and taken care of his own health while others have neglected theirs. This latter seems to be the meaning here. He is however exalted above all time, inasmuch as the longest period appears to Him very short, and in the shortest period the greatest work can be executed by Him. This Psalm could not have been written by Moses, because the term of human life was much more extended when he flourished than eighty years at the most. . Personal updates from Samantha. (c) Vat. The standpoint of the first comparison, "as yesterday," is taken towards the end of the thousand of years. The favour and protection of God are the only sure rest and comfort of the soul in this evil world. Hebrew is the language that the *Jews spoke when they wrote the psalms. Furthermore, it has no affinity with any of the other psalms, meaning that it does not cover any similar circumstances. This last is the simplest way of taking it, but it comes to one and the same thing with the second, since דּכּא signifies crushing in the neuter sense. Eighty years is the utmost limit he sets man's life at, i.e., in the most ordinary and common account of man's life. It is, that happiness cannot ordinarily be found at that period of life; that to lengthen out life does not add materially to its enjoyment; that to do it, is but adding trouble and sorrow. frequently only expresses the sequence of the thoughts or the connection of the matter, e.g., after a future that refers to that which is constantly taking place, Job 14:10. Psalms 90:10. ((d) "----tristisque senectus et labor----". There is, at that time of life, as well as at other times, great danger lest that which we have received from God, and which is in no manner to be traced to ourselves, may be an occasion of pride, as if it were our own, or as if it were secured by our own prudence, wisdom, or merit. And if by reason of strength ... - If there be unusual strength or vigor of natural constitution; or if the constitution has not been impaired or broken by toil, affliction, or vicious indulgence; or if the great laws of health have been understood and observed. The proposition, as 2 Peter 3:8 shows, is also true when reversed: "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years." All animals, as the horse, the mule, the elephant, the eagle, the raven, the bee, the butterfly, have each a fixed limit of life, wisely adapted undoubtedly to the design for which they were made, and to the highest happiness of the whole. the Arabic epithet of God el-mu‛ı̂d equals המשׁיב, the Resuscitator). The days of our years are three score years and ten. This number has often been What Does Psalm 143:10 Mean? It is not so much Psalm 90:3 that is confirmed as Psalm 90:2, to which the former serves for explanation, viz., this, that God as the Almighty (אל), in the midst of this change of generations, which is His work, remains Himself eternally the same. Time is as nothing to Him, the Eternal One. Clarke's Psalms 90:10 Bible Commentary Psalm 90:10Threescore years and ten - See the note on the title of this Psalm 90 (note). In verses 1 and 17,there is the word Lord. Hist. Yet the period of seventy is the ordinary limit beyond which few can go; the great mass fall long before they reach that. Psalm 90 was penned by Moses, a man with whom the Lord spoke “face to face, as a man speaks with his friend” (Exodus 33:11; see also Numbers 12:7-8). Psalm 90 speaks of judgment imposed by Yahweh on the people. The ordinary hopes and plans of life ended; the companions of other years departed; the offices and honors of the world in other hands; a new generation on the stage that cares little for the old one now departing; a family scattered or in the grave; the infirmities of advanced years on him; his faculties decayed; the buoyancy of life gone; and now in his second childhood dependent on others as he was in his first; how little of happiness is there in such a condition! in Somno Scipionis, l. 1. c. 6. p. 58. Moses knew that some men and women lived past seventy or eighty years when he wrote the psalm. PSALMS 90 Other translations - previous - next - meaning - Psalms - BM Home - Full Page PSALM 90. Psalm 90 is sort of a ‘pre-evangelistic’ psalm, laying the foundation for our need for redemption. Christ Jesus is the refuge and dwelling-place to which we may repair. His conclusion, of course, is that man and God look at time from entirely different perspectives. Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. The obvious exception is the one generation that will not die, but will be instantaneously changed from mortal to immortal in the rapture of the Church. The best way to view our articles and Q&A. Psalm 90:10 says we’re given a lifespan of about 70 years. It does have, however, similarity and affinity with one chapter that In this psalm, there are 3 words for God: *Lord, *LORD and God. (e) "amplitudo eorum", Montanus. The poet dwells upon the fear which it produces. Psalm 90 INTRODUCTION: Psalm 90 is the first psalm in Book IV of the psalms (Psalms 90-106). Psalm 90:10 "The days of our years [are] threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength [they be] fourscore years, yet [is] their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." Thus is it to God with a thousand years: they do not last long to Him; they do not affect Him; at the close of them, as at the beginning, He is the Absolute One (אל). "the days of our years in this world are seventy years of the stronger;''. So it means here, that life is soon passed over, and that we flee away, as if driven by the wind; as if impelled or urged forward as chaff or any light substance is by a gale. l. 4. c. If the … You can also download them to your computer, phone, or tablet. A whole millennium appears to God, when He glances over it, just as the yesterday does to us when (כּי) it is passing by (יעבר), and we, standing on the border of the opening day, look back upon the day that is gone. Literally the clause is, for (or thus) passeth haste, and we fly away (like a bird), which may be rendered, thus there comes a haste that we may fly away; i.e., even though we may have prayed for an extension of life, it brings with it such weariness that we long at last to escape—a fact sufficiently true to experience. in Deuteronomy 26:12, and both instances together in Deuteronomy 32:8. A fut. thus there comes a haste that we may fly away; i.e.. And if by reason of strength they be four score years; yet is their pride then but let, our and vanity. l. 1. . His wife Samantha maintains this site as well as their missionary outreaches. Psalm 90:10 Translation & Meaning. We are to seek wisdom and to live each day to its fullest for the glory of God. It is obvious to remark that man has enough to do to fill up the time of his life; that life to man is too precious to be wasted. the same thing in the inf. But, at any rate, it is no longer; and in that brief period he must accomplish all that he is to do in reference to this world, and all that is to be done to prepare him for the world to come. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. What now is the connection between that which confirms and that which is confirmed here? Notes on the Psalms. But the years are full of hard work and pain. Psalms 90:10. This "threescore years and ten" is the 70 year generation. There are commonly just enough people of extreme old age upon the earth to show us impressively that it is not "desirable" to live to be very old; just enough to keep this lesson with salutary force before the minds of those in earlier life; just enough, if we saw it aright, to make us willing to die before that period comes! This is important information that helps us understand that Psalm 90:10 is not referring to the maximum number of years men and women will live. It seems to relate to the specifics of ancient Israel’s experience of exile and the broader human travail. Virgil. Alex. Of great importance is Moses’ emphasis to “number our days.” May it not, also, be implied here that a man who has reached that period of life - who has survived so many others - who has seen so many fall by imprudence, or vice, or intemperance - will be in special danger of being proud, as if it were by some special virtue of his own that his life had been thus lengthened out? apud Clement. The shorter future form תּשׁב for תּשׁיב stands poetically instead of the longer, as e.g., in Psalm 11:6; Psalm 26:9; cf. Psalm 90 takes a full view of life including human frailty and divine wrath and a plea for divine grace. Psalm 90, likely the oldest psalm, opens with Moses addressing God as eternal and Israel's dwelling place, but quickly shifts to an acknowledgement of man's brief life on earth. Georg. Commentary on Psalm 90:1-6 (Read Psalm 90:1-6) It is supposed that this psalm refers to the sentence passed on Israel in the wilderness, Numbers 14. The arrangement of the psalms into five books goes back at least to the time when the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek (the Septuagint) approximately 200 B.C. How appropriate is it to speak of it as a time of "sorrow!" So of man. Psalm 90 | Perhaps more than any other Psalm, Psalm 90 brings our mortality front and center. We’ll still fly away, we just won’t die first. It is a paradox, and yet, like many other paradoxes, a truism also, to say that death generally alters, sometimes reverses, the whole estimate of a life. This is the Jewish interpretation. Epist. If we have a strong constitution, we could live to see 80 but that last 10 years could involve fighting against various illnesses, as if we’re just delaying the inevitable, because when all is said and done we’re going to “fly away” just the same. He feels that his life is being pounded and pulverised into the ground. 210 - Not By Our Own Strength. My own much loved brother has terminal cancer at age 81. It is probable that human life was gradually diminished until it became fixed at the limit which now bounds it, and which is to remain as the great law in regard to its duration upon the earth. This means "master", someone with authority. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Are threescore years and ten - Not as life originally was, but as it has been narrowed down to about that period; or, this is the ordinary limit of life. Psalms 90:10: Psalms 90: Psalms 90:12. Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? This passage proves that the psalm was written when the life of man had been shortened, and had been reduced to about what it is at present; for this description will apply to man now. 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