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Psalms 90
1Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.
2Before the were born, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from to everlasting, you are God.
3You turn man to destruction, saying, “Return, you children of men.”
4For a thousand years in your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night.
5You sweep them away as they sleep. In the morning they sprout like new grass.
6In the morning it sprouts and springs up. By evening, it is withered and dry.
7For we are consumed in your anger. We are troubled in your wrath.
8You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9For all our days have passed away in your wrath. We bring our years to an end as a sigh.
10The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.
11Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?
12So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13Relent, LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
14Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.
16Let your work appear to your servants, your glory to their children.
17Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us. Establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands.
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by many human authors over a long period, and Scripture presents itself as God-breathed rather than as human opinion. Some books name their writer, some do not, and honest study says which is which. Paul calls every Scripture God-breathed, and Peter says no prophecy came by the will of man but that people spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which is the Bible's own account of how both authors are involved at once.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.