DiscipleDeck
Get started
Bible Commentary

Psalms 90:1-17

The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1-17

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The Lord our Dwelling place.

There is no need to doubt the assigned authorship of this psalm. It is in entire harmony with the facts and surroundings of Moses' and Israel's life in the wilderness. Observe—

I. THE BLESSED FACT. The Lord our Dwelling place, which this psalm tells of at its beginning. Weary wanderers as the Israelites were, with no settled resting place, here today, gone tomorrow, how blessed for them that there was refuge, a dwelling place, a home, in God! And this, Moses and such as he had realized and may realize still.

1. Here there may be, there is, perpetual change; but in God a settled abode.

2. Here, weariness and turmoil; in God, rest and peace.

3. Here, continual disappointment; in God, the soul's satisfaction. (Cf. .)

4. Here, perpetual peril; in God, perfect security.

5. Here, the coldness and enmity of men; in God, unfailing sympathy and love. Yes, God is the Home of the believing soul.

II. THE SUSTAINING POWER OF THIS FACT. It enables us to meet with calmness the heart breaking events of life. The psalmist enumerates a number of them.

1. The brevity of our life. (.)

2. The real cause of human misery. (.) It is our sin, and God's displeasure thereat. Hence is it () that the sense of that displeasure overwhelms us as with lightning flash, and our lives are as a breath. And so all life is sad, even at the best ().

3. The fearfulness of the Divine anger. (.) "Who knoweth the might of thine anger and thy wrath, according to the fear that is due unto thee?" (Perowne). None can even rightly estimate it, much less overestimate it.

III. THE RELIEVING PRAYER TO WHICH IT LEADS.

1. That we may not miss the instruction which these sad facts should impart. The "wisdom" craved is that we may make the Lord our Dwelling place.

2. For brighter days. (.)

3. For the promised salvation—the work and the glory of God ().

4. For the beauty of holiness. There had been none of this in Israel in all these many years.

5. That life may be worth living. Not a perpetual disappointment, such as it had been hitherto, but that the work of their hands might be established (). Such are some of the prayers which the soul whose home is in God will be led to offer in view of the brevity, the frailty, and the sinfulness of life. Let the Lord be our Dwelling place, and all is well. "Our life is hid with Christ in God."—S.C.

Recommended reading

More for Psalms 90:1-17

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

Matthew Henry on Psalms 90:1-6Psalms 90:1-6 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryIt is supposed that this psalm refers to the sentence passed on Israel in the wilderness, Nu 14. The favour and protection of God are the only sure rest and comfort of the soul in this evil world. Christ Jesus is the re…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1-17Psalms 90:1-17 · The Pulpit CommentaryEXPOSITION THE ascription of this psalm in the title to Moses must be admitted to be very remarkable. No other psalm is so ascribed. Nor indeed is a date given to any other earlier than the time of David. The psalm itse…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1Psalms 90:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryLord, thou hast been our Dwelling place in all generations; or, "our habitation" (see Psalms 91:9); comp. Psalms 32:7, "Thou art my Hiding place." For well nigh forty years Moses had had no fixed material dwelling place.The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1Psalms 90:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe glorious habitation. It has been remarked that we have Moses presented to us in three aspects—as poet (see his song at the Red Sea); as preacher (see Deuteronomy and elsewhere); and as a man of prayer (see the closi…The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1Psalms 90:1 · The Pulpit CommentaryGod a Dwelling place. God our Home; the soul's Home. There seem to be no sufficient reasons for rejecting the Mosaic authorship of this psalm; but this much appears to be certain—the associations of the time of Moses fo…
commentaryMatthew Henry on Psalms 90:1-6It is supposed that this psalm refers to the sentence passed on Israel in the wilderness, Nu 14. The favour and protection of God are the only sure rest and comfort of the soul in this evil world. Christ Jesus is the re…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1-17EXPOSITION THE ascription of this psalm in the title to Moses must be admitted to be very remarkable. No other psalm is so ascribed. Nor indeed is a date given to any other earlier than the time of David. The psalm itse…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1God a Dwelling place. God our Home; the soul's Home. There seem to be no sufficient reasons for rejecting the Mosaic authorship of this psalm; but this much appears to be certain—the associations of the time of Moses fo…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1The glorious habitation. It has been remarked that we have Moses presented to us in three aspects—as poet (see his song at the Red Sea); as preacher (see Deuteronomy and elsewhere); and as a man of prayer (see the closi…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:1Lord, thou hast been our Dwelling place in all generations; or, "our habitation" (see Psalms 91:9); comp. Psalms 32:7, "Thou art my Hiding place." For well nigh forty years Moses had had no fixed material dwelling place.Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:2The past, present, and future eternity of God. "There is something in the psalm that is wonderfully striking and solemn, acquainting us with the profoundest depths of the Divine nature" (Ewald). In contrast with the eve…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:2Before the mountains were brought forth (comp. Proverbs 8:25). The "mountains" are mentioned as perhaps the grandest, and certainly among the oldest, of all the works of God. Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 90:3Thou 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 th…Joseph S. Exell and contributors