Catholic Commentary on Psalm 90

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12)

From Everlasting to Everlasting

Psalm 90, attributed to Moses and the oldest psalm in the Psalter, opens with a confession of God's eternity and a meditation on human transience. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Against this backdrop of infinite divine duration, human life is depicted with unflinching brevity: a thousand years in God's sight are like a watch in the night, like new grass that sprouts in the morning and by evening is dry and withered. We live seventy years, perhaps eighty if strong, and even the best of them contain trouble and sorrow. The comparison is not pessimistic. It is realistic, and it is designed to produce wisdom.

The prayer that emerges from this meditation is one of the most important in Scripture: Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. The numbering of days is not morbidity. It is the practice of living in the light of eternity, of making choices proportionate to the real weight of things. The Catechism calls this memento mori, the remembrance of death, not as despair but as the clarifying lens through which the truly important becomes visible (CCC 1014). St. Benedict made it the first instrument of good works: keep death daily before your eyes.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, how many days do you have left? You do not know. That is exactly the point. The teaching of Psalm 90 is not to be afraid of the unknown but to live today as though it matters, because it does. Number this day. What is worth doing with it? What is worth leaving undone? Let the answer to those questions be shaped by the God who is from everlasting to everlasting.

Prayer

Lord God, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. We are the grass of the morning, withered by evening. Teach us to number our days and give us a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

BOOK IV
90
Psalms 90—106
From Everlasting to Everlasting
 
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
 
1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place
through all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or You brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting
You are God.
 
3 You return man to dust,
saying, “Return, O sons of mortals.”
4 For in Your sight a thousand years
are but a day that passes,* 90:4 See 2 Peter 3:8.
or a watch of the night.
5 You whisk them away in their sleep;
they are like the new grass of the morning—
6 in the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it fades and withers.
 
7 For we are consumed by Your anger
and terrified by Your wrath.
8 You have set our iniquities before You,
our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
9 For all our days decline in Your fury;
we finish our years with a sigh.
10 The length of our days is seventy years—
or eighty if we are strong—
yet their pride is but labor and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
 
11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
Your wrath matches the fear You are due.
12 So teach us to number our days,
that we may present a heart of wisdom.
 
13 Return, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on Your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion,
that we may sing for joy 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 May Your work be shown to Your servants,
and Your splendor to their children.
17 May the favor † 90:17 Or beauty of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish for us the work of our hands—
yes, establish the work of our hands!

*90:4 90:4 See 2 Peter 3:8.

†90:17 90:17 Or beauty

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