What is the meaning of Psalm 90:10? The length of our days “The length of our days is seventy years…” • God graciously establishes an average span for human life; He is the sovereign determiner of every breath (Job 12:10; Acts 17:25). • Moses, the writer, had witnessed an entire generation fall in the wilderness (Numbers 14:29-34), underscoring the frailty of humanity that Psalm 39:4-5 and Psalm 144:4 echo. • Life’s brevity is not random; it is a direct consequence of the fall (Genesis 3:19; Romans 5:12), and it presses us to “number our days” wisely (Psalm 90:12). Seventy years—or eighty if we are strong “…or eighty if we are strong…” • Strength can stretch the timeline, yet even robust years remain bounded by God (Deuteronomy 34:7; 1 Samuel 2:6). • Modern medicine may extend longevity, but the principle holds: human limits remind us that “our days on earth are a shadow” (Job 8:9). • Scripture elsewhere records exceptional lifespans (Genesis 6:3; Psalm 92:14), but these are God-given exceptions, not the rule. Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow “…yet their pride is but labor and sorrow…” • Achievements that seem impressive invite toil, grief, and eventual decay (Ecclesiastes 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). • The “pride” of life can never erase the groanings of a fallen creation (Romans 8:22), nor avert the birth pains of suffering (Job 5:7). • God allows labor and sorrow to strip away self-reliance and drive hearts toward eternal hope (Psalm 119:71; 2 Corinthians 1:9). For they quickly pass “…for they quickly pass…” • Time races; “my days are like a lengthening shadow” (Psalm 102:11), “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). • Whether 17 or 97, life’s speed should quicken repentance and obedience (Hebrews 3:13-15; Luke 12:20). • Believers need not fear the swift passage: God’s steadfast love “from everlasting to everlasting” outruns the clock (Psalm 103:15-17). And we fly away “…and we fly away.” • At death the spirit departs to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7), a truth confirmed for the redeemed by “to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23). • The imagery hints at the future resurrection and gathering “in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17; Isaiah 40:31). • For the unbeliever this flight is toward judgment (Hebrews 9:27; Luke 16:22-23); for the believer, toward everlasting life secured by Christ’s victory (John 11:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). summary Psalm 90:10 paints an honest portrait of human frailty: a typical lifespan of seventy to eighty years marked by toil, sorrow, and swiftness. The verse is not pessimistic but purposeful—driving us to humility, daily dependence on God, and anticipation of eternity. Life is short; God is eternal; our hope rests in Him alone. |
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