BOOK FOUR: Psalms 90—106

The Eternity of God, and Man’s Frailty

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

90 Lord, You have been our dwelling place^[a] in all generations.² Before the mountains were brought forth,Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³ You turn man to destruction,And say, “Return, O children of men.”⁴ For a thousand years in Your sightAre like yesterday when it is past,And like a watch in the night.⁵ You carry them away like a flood;They are like a sleep.In the morning they are like grass which grows up:⁶ In the morning it flourishes and grows up;In the evening it is cut down and withers.

⁷ For we have been consumed by Your anger,And by Your wrath we are terrified.⁸ You have set our iniquities before You,Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.⁹ For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;We finish our years like a sigh.¹⁰ The days of our lives are seventy years;And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.¹¹ Who knows the power of Your anger?For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.¹² So teach us to number our days,That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³ Return, O Lord!How long?And have compassion on Your servants.¹⁴ Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!¹⁵ Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,The years in which we have seen evil.¹⁶ Let Your work appear to Your servants,And Your glory to their children.¹⁷ And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,And establish the work of our hands for us;Yes, establish the work of our hands.