For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday. Time has no relation to God; it does not exist for him. "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" ( 2 Peter 3:8 ) Therefore we must not judge his methods of working by our own. When it is past; rather, as it passes. And as a watch in the night. To the sleeper a night watch seems gone in a moment. read more
God's estimate of a thousand years. Note— I. THE GROUND OF THIS ESTIMATE . It is the eternity of God. He who is from everlasting to everlasting—God, the Eternal. There never was a period in which he was not. He is more permanent than the most changeless things. 1 . History teaches us this. Push back so far as we can into the remote past, there we find the sure proof of the Divine existence and work. 2 . Science teaches it yet more powerfully. Whether we... read more
Lord - Not יהוה Yahweh here, but אדני 'Adonāy. The word is properly rendered “Lord,” but it is a term which is often applied to God. It indicates, however, nothing in regard to his character or attributes except that he is a “Ruler or Governor.”Thou hast been our dwelling-place - The Septuagint renders this, “refuge” - καταφυγἡ kataphugē. So the Latin Vulgate, “refugium;” and Luther, “Zuflucht.” The Hebrew word - מעון mâ‛ôn - means properly a habitation, a dwelling, as of God in his... read more
Before the mountains were brought forth - Before the earth brought forth or produced the mountains. In the description of the creation it would be natural to represent the mountains as the first objects that appeared, as emerging from the waters; and, therefore, as the “first” or “most ancient” of created objects. The phrase, therefore, is equivalent to saying, Before the earth was created. The literal meaning of the expression, “were brought forth,” is, in the Hebrew, “were born.” The... read more
Thou turnest man to destruction - In contradistinction from his own unchangeableness and eternity. Man passes away; God continues ever the same. The word rendered “destruction” - דכא dakkâ' - means properly anything beaten or broken small or very fine, and hence, “dust.” The idea here is, that God causes man to return to dust; that is, the elements which compose the body return to their original condition, or seem to mingle with the earth. Genesis 3:19 : “dust thou art, and unto dust shalt... read more
For a thousand years in thy sight - Hebrew, “In thy eyes;” that is, It so appears to thee - or, a thousand years so seem to thee, however long they may appear to man. The utmost length to which the life of man has reached - in the case of Methuselah - was nearly a thousand years Genesis 5:27; and the idea here is, that the longest human life, even if it should be lengthened out to a thousand years, would be in the sight of God, or in comparison with his years, but as a single day.Are but as... read more
Psalms 90:1. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place, &c. Although we and our fathers, for some generations, have had no fixed habitation, but have been strangers in a land that was not ours, and afflicted four hundred years; (see Genesis 15:13;) and although we now are, and have been for some time, and must still continue, in a vast, howling wilderness, dwelling in tents, and wandering from place to place; yet thou, Lord, hast been instead of a dwelling-place to us, by thy watchful... read more
Psalms 90:2 . Before the mountains The most fixed and stable parts of the earth; were brought forth That is, arose out of the waters; or ever thou hadst formed the earth, &c. That is, from eternity, which is frequently described in this manner; even from everlasting thou art God Thou hadst thy power and thy perfections from all eternity. And this eternity of God is here mentioned for two reasons: 1st, That men, by the contemplation thereof, might be brought to a deeper sense of... read more
Psalms 90:3. Thou turnest man to destruction But as for man, his case is far otherwise; his time is short; and though he was made by thee happy and immortal, yet for his sin thou didst make him mortal and miserable. And sayest Or, didst say, that is, pronounce that sad sentence, Return, ye children of men, namely, to the dust, out of which ye were taken. read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 90:3
Thou turnest man to destruction; or, "to dust" (comp. Genesis 3:19 ). And sayest, Return, ye children of men; i.e. "return once more, and replenish the earth." There may be an allusion to the destruction of mankind by the Deluge, and the repeopling of the earth by the descendants of Noah, as Dr. Kay supposes; or the meaning may be that God is continually bringing one generation of men to an end. and then setting up another, having the same control over human life that he has over... read more