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PSALM 90 - Moses' Psalm 31 Jan 2020

In my opinion, the language of this psalm differs a lot from the first five books of the bible, which are attributed to Moses. If Moses has written this psalm, it is 500 years older than the psalms of David.

The contrasts displayed in the text are really beautiful. They sound very modern. Or perhaps we have borrowed so many of those ideas into our modern language.

I love the language of this psalm. Perhaps Moses is the father of modern society.

Psalm 90

1 [Prayer Of Moses, man of God]
Lord, you have been our refuge from age to age.
2 Before the mountains were born,
before the earth and the world came to birth,
from eternity to eternity you are God.
3 You bring human beings to the dust, by saying,
'Return, children of Adam.' 4 A thousand years are to you like a yesterday which has passed,
like a watch of the night. 5 You flood them with sleep
-- in the morning they will be like growing grass:
6 in the morning it is blossoming and growing,
by evening it is withered and dry.
7 For we have been destroyed by your wrath,
dismayed by your anger.
8 You have taken note of our guilty deeds,
our secrets in the full light of your presence.
9 All our days pass under your wrath,
our lives are over like a sigh.
10 The span of our life is seventy years
-- eighty for those who are strong --
but their whole extent is anxiety and trouble,
they are over in a moment and we are gone.
11 Who feels the power of your anger,
or who that fears you, your wrath?
12 Teach us to count up the days that are ours,
and we shall come to the heart of wisdom.
13 Come back, Yahweh! How long must we wait?
Take pity on your servants.
14 Each morning fill us with your faithful love,
we shall sing and be happy all our days;
15 let our joy be as long as the time that you afflicted us,
the years when we experienced disaster.
16 Show your servants the deeds you do,
let their children enjoy your splendour!
17 May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us,
to confirm the work we have done!

Excerpt from THE NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1985 by
Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division
of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.

https://pixabay.com/photos/rome-monument-moses-3769330/

Moses in Rome

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