Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Psalm 90 Devotional

A Home Older Than the Mountains

“So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.”Psalm 90:12 (BSB)

Psalm 90 is headed as a prayer of Moses (90:1), and it sets two things side by side. On one side is God, who has been his people's home in every generation and was God before the mountains existed (90:1-2). A thousand years pass before him like a single day (90:4), a truth Peter repeats (2 Peter 3:8). On the other side are human beings, who spring up like morning grass and wither by evening (90:5-6). Even a long life is full of toil and soon gone (90:10).

The psalm ties this frailty to sin. Our hidden faults lie open before God (90:8). So Moses prays for wisdom: teach us to count our days, so that our hearts grow wise (90:12). He asks God to turn in compassion, to satisfy his people each morning with steadfast love, and to make the work of their hands last (90:13-17). Life is short, but it is lived before an eternal God. That is why brief days can still matter.

To think about: If you counted your days honestly, what would you want to change about how you spend this one?

About Psalm 90: The Eternal God and Human Frailty

In a prayer credited to Moses, the psalm sets God's eternity beside the brevity of human life, which fades like grass under God's anger at sin. Moses asks God to teach His people to count their days wisely, to turn and show compassion, and to make their work last.

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