Psalms 90:1

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations,.... Even when they had no certain dwelling place in the world; so their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dwelt in tabernacles in the

LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Psalms 90:1-17.-A meditation: the Lord our dwelling-place, the counterpoise to our transitory life: death, the wages of sin (Psalms

Psalms 90 Who, considering that terrible but righteous sentence of God concerning the cutting off all that sinful generation in the wilderness, of which see Numbers 14, takes that occasion to publish these meditations concerning mans mortality and misery in this life, which might be useful both to that and to all succeeding generations. Moses, setting forth the eternity and providence of God, :2, describeth the misery and shortness of man’ s life, ; prayeth for wisdom to number his days, ; and for the knowledge and sensible experience of God’ s good providence, . Although we and our fathers, for some generations, have had no certain and fixed habitation, but have been strangers in a land that was not ours, and afflicted for four hundred years, according to thy prediction, ; and although we now are, and have been for some time, and still are like to continue, in, a vast howling wilderness, having no houses but dwelling in tents, and wandering from place to place, we know not whither; yet thou, O Lord, hast fully supplied this want, and hast been instead of and better than a dwelling-place to us, by thy watchful and gracious providence over us in all places and exigencies. And this is a very proper preface to this Psalm, to intimate that all the following miseries were not to be imputed to God, but unto themselves, who by their own sins had brought these mischiefs upon themselves.

Psalms 90:1 « A Prayer of Moses the man of God. » Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.A Prayer of Moses] Made by him, belike, when he saw the carcases of the people fall so fast in the wilderness; committed to writing for the instruction of those that were left alive, but sentenced to death, Numbers 14:26-38, and here fitly placed as an illustration of that which was said in the precedent psalm, Psalms 89:48, "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah." Ver. 1. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place] In all our troubles and travels through this wilderness, and before, we have not been houseless and harbourless, for "Thou hast been our dwelling place," our habitacle of refuge, as some render it, Maon. habitaculum tutum. We use to say, A man’ s house is his castle. The civil law saith, De domo sua nemo extrahi debet, aut in ius vocari, quia domus tutissimum cuique refugium atque receptaculum, No man ought to be drawn out of his house at the suit of another; because his house is his safest refuge and receptacle. He that dwelleth in God cannot be unhoused, because God is stronger than all; neither can any one take another out of his hands, John 10:29 Here, then, it is best for us to take up as in our mansion house, and to seek a supply of all our wants in God alone. It was a witty saying of that learned Picus Mirandula, God created the earth for beasts to inhabit, the sea for fishes, the air for fowls, the heaven for angels and stars. Man, therefore, hath no place to dwell and abide in but the Lord alone. See Ezekiel 11:16 2 Corinthians 6:8-10.

(1) Dwelling place.—LXX. and Vulg., “refuse,” possibly reading maôz (as in Psalms 37:39) instead of maôn. So some MSS. But Deuteronomy 33:17 has the feminine of this latter word, and the idea of a continued abode strikes the key-note of the psalm. The short duration of each succeeding generation of men on the earth is contrasted with the eternity of God and the permanence given to Israel as a race by the covenant that united them with the Eternal. But we may give extension to the thought. Human history runs on from generation to generation (so the Hebrew; comp. Deuteronomy 32:7); one goes, another comes; but in relation to the unchanging God, who rules over all human history, even the transient creatures of an hour may come to feel secure and at home.

PSALM XC The eternity of God, 1, 2; the frailty of the state of man, 3-9; the general limits of human life, 10; the danger of displeasing God, 11; the necessity of considering the shortness of life, and of regaining the favour of the Almighty, 12; earnest prayer for the restoration of Israel, 13-17. NOTES ON PSALM XC The title of this Psalm is, A Prayer of Moses the man of God. The Chaldee has, "A prayer which Moses the prophet of the Lord prayed when the people of Israel had sinned in the wilderness." All the Versions ascribe it to Moses; but that it could not be of Moses the lawgiver is evident from this consideration, that the age of man was not then seventy or eighty years, which is here stated to be its almost universal limit, for Joshua lived one hundred and ten years, and Moses himself one hundred and twenty; Miriam his sister, one hundred and thirty; Aaron his brother, one hundred and twenty-three; Caleb, four-score and five years; and their contemporaries lived in the same proportion. See Clarke on Psalms 90:4. Therefore the Psalm cannot at all refer to such ancient times. If the title be at all authentic, it must refer to some other person of that name; and indeed איש אלהים ish Elohim, a man of God, a divinely inspired man, agrees to the times of the prophets, who were thus denominated. The Psalm was doubtless composed during or after the captivity; and most probably on their return, when they were engaged in rebuilding the temple; and this, as Dr. Kennicott conjectures, may be the work of their hands, which they pray God to bless and prosper. Verse 1. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place] מעון maon; but instead of this several MSS. have מעוז maoz, "place of defence," or "refuge," which is the reading of the Vulgate, Septuagint, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. Ever since thy covenant with Abraham thou hast been the Resting-place, Refuge, and Defence of thy people Israel. Thy mercy has been lengthened out from generation to generation.

1–6. The Psalmist’s confession that God is Israel’s refuge; that He alone is the Eternal; that He is the sovereign Disposer of human life.

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.

1. Thou hast been our dwelling-place—This is the proposition sustained throughout the first six verses.