Psalm 90

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 The 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Around Psalm 90

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes