Psalms 90
Moses acknowledges God's eternal nature and humanity's fleeting existence, noting that a thousand years are like a day to God. He laments that human life is short and fragile, often cut short by God's wrath, and that even the longest lives are filled with hardship and sorrow. Moses asks God to show mercy and to teach humans wisdom, and he prays for God's guidance and blessing on their lives and works.
A prayer of Moses, the man of God. O Lord, you have been our refuge from generation to generationBefore the mountains became, or the land was formed along with the world: from ages past, even to all ages, you are GodAnd, lest man be turned aside in humiliation, you have said: Be converted, O sons of menFor a thousand years before your eyes are like the days of yesterday, which have passed by, and they are like a watch of the nightwhich was held for nothing: so their years shall beIn the morning, he may pass away like grass; in the morning, he may flower and pass away. In the evening, he will fall, and harden, and become dryFor, at your wrath, we have withered away, and we have been disturbed by your furyYou have placed our iniquities in your sight, our age in the illumination of your countenanceFor all our days have faded away, and at your wrath, we have fainted. Our years will be considered to be like a spider’s webThe days of our years in them are seventy years. But in the powerful, they are eighty years, and more of these are with hardship and sorrow. For mildness has overwhelmed us, and we shall be correctedWho knows the power of your wrath? And, before fear, can your wratbe numbered? So make known your right hand, along with men learned in heart, in wisdomReturn, O Lord, how long? And may you be persuaded on behalf of your servantsWe were filled in the morning with your mercy, and we exulted and delighted all our daysWe have been rejoicing, because of the days in which you humbled us, because of the years in which we saw evilsLook down upon your servants and upon their works, and direct their sonsAnd may the splendor of the Lord our God be upon us. And so, direct the works of our hands over us; direct even the work of our hands
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