Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 90
PSAL. XC.
A Prayer of Moſes] Made by him belike, when he ſaw the carkaſſes of the people fall ſo faſt in the wilderneſſe; committed to writing for the inſtruction of thoſe that were left alive, but ſentenced to death, Numb. 14. and here fitly placed, as an illuſtration of that which was ſaid in the precedent Pſalm, Verſ. 48. What man is he that liveth, and ſhall not ſee death? Shall he deliver his ſoul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
Verſ. 1. Lord, thou haſt been our dwelling place] In all our troubles and travels thorough this wilderneſſe, and before, we have not been houſeleſſe and harbourleſſe,Maon. habitaculum tutum. for Thou haſt been our dwelling-place, our habitacle of refuge, as ſome render it. We uſe to ſay A mans houſe is his caſtle. The civile-law ſaith, De domo ſua nemo extrahi debet, aut in jus vocari, quia domus tutiſſimum cui que reſugium at que receptaculum, No man ought to be drawn out of his houſe at the ſute of another; becauſe his houſe is his ſafeſt refuge and receptacle. He that dwelleth in God cannot bee unhouſed, becauſe God is ſtronger than all; neither can any one take another out of his hands, Joh. 10. 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 fouls, the Heaven for Angels and ſtars. Man therefore hath not place to dwell and abide in, but the Lord alone. See Ezek. 11.16.2 Cor. 6.8, 9, 10.
Verſ. 2. Before the Mountains were brought forth] And they were made at the creation, not caſt up by the Flood, as ſome have held. Moſes firſt celebrateth Gods eternity,Eccleſ. 7.14. and then ſetteth forth mans mortality: that the one being ſet over againſt the other (as Solomon ſpeaketh in another caſe) God may be glorified, and man comforted, which is the main end of the holy Scriptures, Rom. 15.4. and far beyond thoſe conſolatiunculae … Philoſophicae.
Verſ. 3. Thou turneſt man to deſtruction] Ad minutiſſimum quiddam, ſo Beza rendreth it, to a very ſmall buſineſſe, to duſt and powder. Others, ad contritionem vel contuſionem; by turning looſe upon him diverſe diſeaſes and diſtreſſes; thou turneſt him out of the World, Eccleſ. 1.13. And generally, thou layeſt of all and ſingular ſons of men.
Return ye] Your bodies to the earth, according to the decree Gen. 3.17, 18, 19. your ſouls to God that gave them, Eccleſ. 12.7. And here the courſe of mans life is compared (ſaith One) to a race in a Tilt or Turney, where we ſoon run to the end of the race as it were, and then return back again, Intelligit Moſes vit am humanam ſimilem oſſe gyro, ſaith Another. Mans life is compared to a ring or round. we walk a ſhort round; and then God gathers us in to himſelf. One being asked what Life was? made an anſwer anſwerleſs, for he preſently turned his back and went his way. We fetch here but a turn, and God ſaith, Return yee Children of men. This ſome make to be an irony; as if God ſhould ſay, Live again, if yee can. Some apply it to the Reſurrection, others to Mortification, and Vivification.
Verſ. 4. For a thouſand years in thy ſight, &c.] q. d. Live men a longer or ſhorter ſpace, Serius aut citius, thou endeſt their days; and in compariſon of thine Eternity, Punctum eſt quod vivimus & puncto minus, it is a ſmall ſpace of time that the longeſt liver hath upon earth, 2 Pet. 3.8. Pſal. 39.5. Non multum ſane abeſt à nihilo. Some would hence inferre, that the Day of Judgement ſhall laſt a thouſand years; ſides ſit penes authores.
When it is paſſed] We judge better of the ſhortneſs of time, when it is paſt.
And as a watch in the night] Which is but three hours ſpace; for Souldiers divide the Night into four Watches, and our life is full of the darkneſs of errour and terrour.
Verſ. 5. Thou carryeſt them away as with a floud] Suddenly, violently, irreſiſtibly, by particular Judgements, beſides that general neceſſity of dying once, Heb. 9.27. This is ſet forth by a treble compariſon, of Flouds, Sleep, and Flowers here; and indeed the vanity and miſery of mans life is ſuch, as cannot ſufficiently be ſet forth by an ſimilitudes. See Verſ. 9, 10.
They are like a ſleep] Or dream; the dream of a ſhadow, ſaith Pindarus; the ſhadow of ſmoke, ſaith another.foreign.
They are as graſs] An ordinary compariſon, Iſa. 40.6. Jam. 1.
Verſ. 6. In the morning it flouriſheth] So doth man in his prime and vigour, his bones full of marrow, his breſts of milk.
In the evening it is cut down] So is man by Deaths mortal Sythe, which moweth down the Lillies of the Crown, as well as the Graſs of the Field. In the evening graſs will cut better, and the Mowers can better work at it.
Verſ. 7. For we are conſumed by thine anger] Juſtly conceived for our ſins, ver. 8. this is a cauſe of death that Philoſophy diſcovereth not, as being blinde, and not able to ſee farre off, and therefore cannot preſcribe any ſufficient remedy againſt the fear of death, ſuch as is here ſet down, verſ. 12. but ſuch as made Tully complain, that the Diſeaſe was too hard for the Medicine, and ſuch as left men either doubtful (Socrates, for inſtance) or deſperate, and devoyd of ſenſe, as Petronius in Tacitus, Qui in ipſis atriis mortis delicias quaeſivit, ſolaced himſelf with ſinging ſuch light Sonnets as this;
Vovamus mea Lesbia at que omemus,
Rumoreſ que ſenum ſeveriorum
Omnes unius aestimemus aſſis.
And by thy wrath are we troubled] Conſternati ſumus, Symmachus & Aquila tranſtulerant acceleravimus.Death ſtings us and ſticks us; the motion and mention of it is terrible to us, through ſenſe of ſin, and fear of wrath, Heb. 2.15.
Verſ. 8. Thou haſt ſet our iniquities before thee] As a Judge doth the miſdeeds of a Malefactor, together with the proofs and evidences.
Our ſecret ſins] Which we either never took notice of or had utterly forgotten (the ſins of our youth, ſome render it, but not ſo well) thoſe ſins which we had hoped to have ſecreted, ſuch was our hypocriſie.
In the light of thy countenance] This light thou haſt made uſe of for the diſcovery of our inmoſt evils, thoſe that lye moſt up in the heart of the Country, as it were, as the murmurings, and misbeleef of our hearts, &c. theſe thy pure eyes, more clear and radiant than the Sun it ſelf, have plainly diſcerned. Nature teacheth us, that the fiery eye needeth no outward light, but ſeeth extramittendo, by ſending out a ray, &c.
Verſ. 9. For all our days are paſſed away] Heb. Do turn away the face. See verſ. 3.
We ſpend our years as a tale that is told] The grace whereof is brevity. q. d. dicto citins.Some render it, as a thought, that ariſeth and paſſeth. To this ſence the Greek Poet; foreign.
The Chaldee hath it, Ut flatus oris in Hyeme, as the breath of ones mouth in Winter. See Jam. 4.14.
Verſ. 10. The days of our years are threeſcore, &c.] So Solon in Laertius ſaith, the term of mans life is ſeventy years; this few exceed, and fewer attain to. To the ſame ſenſe ſpeaketh Macrobius alſo,Lib. 1. Som. cap. 6, ſaying, Septies deni anni à Phyſicis creditur meta vivendi, & hoc vitae humanae perfectum ſpacium terminatur, &c. The Fathers lived longer; but as mens wickedneſs increaſed, ſo their days decreaſed; and now their lives are daily ſhortned, the Generations diſpatcht away, that the World may the ſooner come to an end. If Moſes and Aaron of old, and Johannes de temporibus, and ſome few others of latter time live longer, even to an hundred or more, theſe are ſingular examples, and it is of the generality that the Pſalmiſt here ſpeaketh.
And if by reaſon of ſtrength, D. Maior&c.] One readeth it thus; And if by fortitude fourſcore years, even their latitude is labour and ſorrow; that is, this inlarging of the time bringeth nothing but labour and miſery, becauſe now the body is diſeaſed, &c.
For it is ſoon cut off] As a Web, or as Graſs.
And we flee away] As a Bird upon the wing, or as an hour of the day:
Qui neſcit quo vita modo volat, audiat horas;
Quam ſit vita fugax, nos docet iste ſonus.
I am not eternity, ſaid Epictetus, but a man; that is, a ſmall part of the whole, as the hour is of the day;Enchirid. I muſt therefore come and go away as the hour doth.
Verſ. 11. Who knoweth the power of thine anger?] None doth, ſith it is ſuch as no man can either avoyd or abide; and ſuch is mens ſtupidity, that few will beleeve ti…l they feel it; no though their lives be ſo ſhort, and uncertain.
Even according to thy fear, ſo is thy wrath] Ira tua non est minor timore noſtro; let a man fear thee never ſo much, he is ſure to feel thee much more, if once he fall into thy fingers.
Verſ. 12. So teach us to number our days] The Philoſopher affirms, that man is therefore the wiſeſt of Creatures,B…u…a non numerant. becauſe he alone can number. But in this Divine Arithmetick of numbring our days (to the which all other is not to be compared, no though we could, as Archimedes boaſted, number the Stars of Heaven, or the Sands by the Sea ſhore) God himſelf muſt be our Teacher, or wee ſhall never do it to purpoſe. R. Solomon obſerveth, that the word foreign rendred So, here, if taken as numeral letters, maketh Seventy, and they yeers of our life are ſeventy; out of which, ſay other Rabbines, if we deduct the time of Childe-hood and Youth, which is vanity, the time of ſleep, repoſe, repaſt, and recreation (which is more than the one half) and the time of affliction and grief which we enjoy not, what a poor pittance will life be reduced unto?
That we may apply our hearts] Heb. That we may cauſe them to come; for naturally they hang off and make ſtrange.
Ʋnto Wiſdom] To the true fear of God, and mortification of ſin, which is the ſling of death, and makes it a trap-door to hell. This is hard to do, but muſt bee done; or men are undone for ever. To live with dying thoughts, is the way to dye with living comforts.
Verſ. 13. Let it repent thee] Or, comfort thou thy ſervants.
Verſ. 14. O ſatisfie us early] As thou didſt our Fathers with Manna.
Verſ. 15. Make us glad according] Let us have a proportion at leaſt.
Verſ. 16. Let thy work appear] Thy proper work, which is to ſhew mercy; for to do Juſtice is thy work, thy ſtrange work. Iſa. 28.21.
And thy glory unto their children] That they at leaſt may enter into the Land of Canaan, according to Numb. 14.31.
Verſ. 17. And let the beauty of the Lord, &c.] i.e. The bounty; the Italian rendreth it, La Giocondita, jucunditas Domini ſit innos.
And eſtabliſh thou the work, &c.] Thus we had all need to pray; for,
Nullius eſt felix conatus et utilis unquam,
Conſiliam ſi non det que juvet que Deus.