Eternal and Immortal One, You have been our refuge in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
before You had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting, You are the Alpha and the Omega.
When our days on Earth are ended, You welcome us home to your Heart,
to the City of Light, where time is eternal and days are not numbered.
You gather those who love You as friends returning from a long journey,
giving rest to their souls.
You anoint them with the balm of understanding, healing wounds of the past.
For our days on Earth are a mystery, a searching for You,
a yearning for the great Mystery to make itself known.
The years pass and soon the Harvest is at hand, a time to reap the fruit of one’s life.
Who has lived with integrity? Who will reflect the Light?
Who can bear the radiant beams of Love?
Who have reverenced the Counselor, and opened their hearts to the Spirit of Truth?
Teach us, O Beloved, to honor each day what we may have a heart of wisdom.
Awaken us, O Holy One! Too long have we been asleep!
Have mercy on your people!
Help us to wait in Silence listening for your gentle Voice;
Strengthen us with courage to face the fears within.
O, that we might be converted in our hearts and walk together in peace and harmony!
Let your Love be known to the nations, your Glory to our children’s children.
Let the grace and gentleness of the Holy Spirit be upon paths of Love Consciousness
Increase the Light within us– O Beloved, hear our prayer! Amen.
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses and could be paired with Exodus 32 or more generally to the wilderness wanderings or even to the Babylonian exile. Brueggemann suggests that we read it as if it was written to describe how Moses felt when he knew he would not be going to the promised land to which he led God’s people.
Life is painfully short. We cry out to the eternal God to change our circumstances or give us more time or to give us wisdom to make the best of whatever time we still have. The heart of wisdom is not about intelligence or skill, but about the ability to see our lives as deeply connected to God. We are home with God. There is some satisfaction in being with God and this deep connection means that we can be honest about the reality of our lives, and what we would like to be different. The psalmist accepts our reality and claims hope.
God, grant to us satisfaction with our lives, the work of our hands, and the love that surrounds us. Teach us to number our days not as a doomsday count down but as a way to approach all that we do with a heart of wisdom; to see the reality of our lives, to do what we can to improve the lives of our neighbors, and to bring all that we can’t change to you. You, O God, are our home, both now and forevermore.
Check out other psalm reflections in the links below or find more of my writing published in Presbyterian Outlook or listen to my experiments in podcasting on the Period Pastor Podcast. Follow me @periodpastor
Past reflection links:
Psalm 90 Year B (2020-2021)
I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020. Shortly after, we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, the church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B. Advent of 2021 year C. When we returned to in person worship, we took the psalm reflections out of the order of worship. I continued to write them for the blog. Advent of 2022 year A. I left church work in July of 2023 but continued the practice of writing psalm reflections. Advent of 2023 year B. Advent of 2024 year C. I finished year C early, so I began work on psalms I missed: Psalm 119, Year D and others not in the lectionary. By the end of 2025, I have written a reflection for each psalm.
Advent of 2025 year A.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings and the PCUSA planning calendar to make text selections.
Year A Psalms
1st Sunday in Advent Psalm 122, 2nd Sunday in Advent Psalm 72, 3rd Sunday in Advent Psalm 146, 4th Sunday in Advent Psalm 80, Christmas Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, 1st Sunday after Christmas Psalm 148, 2nd Sunday after Christmas Psalm 147, 1st Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 29, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 40, 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 27, 4th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 15, 5th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 112, Transfiguration Sunday Psalm 2 or Psalm 99.
1st Sunday in Lent Psalm 32, 2nd Sunday in Lent Psalm 121, 3rdSunday in Lent Psalm 95, 4th Sunday in Lent Psalm 23, 5th Sunday in Lent Psalm 130, 6th Sunday in Lent Psalm 118 or Psalm 31.
Easter Psalm 118 or Psalm 114, 2nd Sunday of Easter Psalm 16 or Psalm 111, 3rd Sunday of Easter Psalm 116 or Psalm 34, 4th Sunday of Easter Psalm 23 or Psalm 100, 5th Sunday of Easter Psalm 31 or Psalm 119: 9-32, 6th Sunday of Easter Psalm 66 or Psalm 115, 7th Sunday of Easter Psalm 68 or Psalm 21, Pentecost Psalm 104.
1st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 8, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 33 or Psalm 50, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 116 or Psalm 100, 4th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 86 or Psalm 69, 5th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 13 or Psalm 89, 6th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 45 or Psalm 145, 7th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 119: 105-112 or Psalm 65, 8th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 139 or Psalm 86, 9th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 128 or Psalm 119: 129-136, 10th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 17 or Psalm 145, 11th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 85, 12th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 133 or Psalm 67, 13th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 124 or Psalm 138, 14th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 26, 15th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 149 or Psalm 119:33-40, 16th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 114 or Psalm 103, 17th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 105 or Psalm 145, 18th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 25, 19th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 19 or Psalm 80, 20th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 106 or Psalm 23, 21st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 99 or Psalm 96, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 90 or Psalm 1, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 107 or Psalm 43, 24th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 78 or Psalm 70, 25th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 123 or Psalm 90, 26th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 100 or Psalm 95.
Sources and notes:
Our God, Our Help in Ages Past #210 Presbyterian Hymnal
1 Our God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home;
2 Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received its frame,
from everlasting you are God,
to endless years the same.
3 A thousand ages in your sight
are like an evening gone,
short as the watch that ends the night
before the rising sun.
4 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
soon bears us all away.
We fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the op’ning day.
5 O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
still be our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home.
Psalm 90 “is a traditional reading at funerals… [where] ….It is regularly compared to Ecclesiastes 3 and 5 in this respect, a comparison that can disorient interpretation of the psalm.” Mays p. 289
“It calls on God by the title ‘adonay (v.1), the title for God as Lord of a servant people (see v. 16).” Mays pp. 290-291
“Faith often has to believe and think and worship in the tension between the universal and the particular, between Creator and Savior, between humanity and congregation.” Mays p. 291
“What they lament is mortality that is experienced as affliction.” Mays p. 292
“The psalmist is a pastor, theologian, and liturgist all at once. He and the congregation live in a time when the congregation’s faith and hope are thin, and they can see and think no further than their own human limitations and mortality. Resignation, cynicism, and nihilism beckon. The psalmist gives the congregation a prayer that includes and gathers up their human lament and leads them to understand it in relation to God. He teaches them the fear of the LORD through the prayer, so that having understood that they live under the sign of god’s wrath, they can pray for God to change the time in which they live as the resolution of their predicament.” Mays p. 294
“In a sense, Psalm 90 is instruction, torah. It belongs to the period of psalmody in which those who composed liturgy for the community had to lead the conurbation in understanding as well as worship.” Mays p. 294
“To speak so to the faithful and eternal one is solace to the soul. It is this comfort of the psalm that Isaac Watts’s great hymn expresses so beautifully: “O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.” that caring and eternal God as contrast and comfort for time-bound humanity– it is this dimension of the psalm that Watts develops in his entire hymn.” Mays p. 295
“Psalms 90-92 open book 4 of the Psalter: Scholars have long recognized a connectedness among the three psalms, on that includes wisdom motifs, concern with the human condition, and finding security in YHWH. With Erich Zenger, I consider Psalms 90-92 to be “eine komposition” (a single composition) that is linked by keyword motifs, by questions in one psalm that are answered in a following psalm, and with a Mosaic inclusio. We can see movement in the three psalms from lament in Psalm 90 to promise in Psalm 91 to thanksgiving in Psalm 92.” W p. 3
“It is the only psalm in the Psalter attributed to Moses and echoes many of the words uttered by Moses in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. …. [Compare with Exodus 32] …. “Many commentators label book 4 the “Moses Book.” Outside of book 4, Moses is mentioned only one time in the Psalter (77:21). In book 4, however, he is referred to seven times (90:1; 99:6; 103:7; 105:26; 106:16, 23, 32).” W p. 4
Verse 2 “birth” is a better translation of the Hebrew than “brought forth” Wisdom Commentary pp. 6-7
“While all members of the Israelite community were concerned with the survival of the people, a feminist reading of the verses highlights the vulnerability of the unborn, newborn, and young children and their mothers during difficult times like the wilderness wanderings and the Babylonian exile. Infant and mother mortality rates were high in the ancient Near East, and thus I suggest that when a woman in exile in Babylon hear the words of Psalm 90 her mind conjured up images of the great vulnerability of women, newborns, and young children, each of whom were important keys to survival of ongoing generations.” W p. 8
“The central focus of Psalm 90, in my opinion and that of many others, is verses 11-12. The psalmist acknowledges the power of God’s anger and request of God, according the NRSV, “teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.” This commentator suggests a translation of “teach us to number our days so that we may approach what we do with a heart of wisdom.” The phrase “a heart of wisdom” is unique to Psalm 90 but, interestingly, the praise “wise of heart” is used four times in the Exodus narrative s to describe the craftspersons who constructed the tabernacle and fashioned its furnishings. Do the words of Psalm 90:12–“and we will approach what we do with a heart of wisdom”–suggest that the people were being admonished to be content with whatever tasks and endeavors confronted them daily? Erich Zenger writes: “If ‘wisdom’ means that art of living, then the ability here asked of God to say yes to life and to live that yes (in the midst of the many things that deserve a no) is Wisdom’s art of living par excellence.” The closing words of Psalm 90 appear to validate such an understanding of “a heart of wisdom.” In verse 14 the people ask God to “satisfy us” “with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad, and in verse 17 they request God “prosper for us the work of our hands–O prosper the work of our hands!” The word translated “prosper” is , which means “to establish, set up, fix in place.” The singers of Psalm 90 were asking God not for prosperity but rather for a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment for the works of their hands, whatever those works might be.” W pp. 8-9
“Thus with Moses’s words in Psalm 90 the women and men in the time of the wilderness wanderings and the Babylonian exile cry out to God, who birthed the world (v. 2), to remember that they are mere mortals (v. 3), and to turn and change God’s mind (v. 13) about their present situation. In the meantime they ask that God give them “a heart of wisdom” (v. 12) so that they might find meaning and importance in the work of their hands (v. 17).” W. p 9
“Psalm 90 is one of the most magisterial of the psalms. Its attribution to Moses is no clue to authorship, but it may invite us to conjure a situation. There is no basis in the tradition, but I suggest that the psalm be heard as though Moses were now at Pisgah (Deuteronomy 34). He has come to the end. He stands looking at the promised land to which he has been headed all his life (cf. Heb. 11:23-28). Now it dawns on him that he will not go there. He embraces that painful reality that his life pursuit of fidelity will stop short of fruition. He submits to that reality from God – but that does not stop the yearning.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms pp. 110-111
“Obviously a wise heart does not refer to knowledge, skill, technique, or the capacity to control. Instead, it seems to mean the capacity to submit, relinquish, and acknowledge the decisive impingement of Yahweh on one’s life. Wisdom means to appropriate what the best sapiential tradition in Israel might teach: one the one hand, that things are connected in inscrutable ways and will not be mocked; and on the other hand, in the frame that connectedness, human persons have great power, freedom, and responsibility. ” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 111
“The first part of Psalm 90 (vv. 1-2) is a meditative reflection on the realities that may result in such a disposition of trust, obedience, and submission.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 111
“… Yahweh is home. The thirst for place is resolved in the gift of communion. Moses, short of the land, can celebrate such a place in a relation. ” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 112
“… Psalm 90 is not a meditation on futile and death, as much as the power of God even in the face of human reality.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 112
“… being confident of God does not lead to passive acceptance. It leads to a vigorous pressing of the issues, in insistence on transformation that can only be wrought by God.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 113
Psalm 90:1-12 “It is a prayer asking that the dimness of verse 3-11 be overcome, in full confidence that Yahweh can do that, and only Yahweh is able.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 114
“The psalm moves from a God who is outside human circumstance to a God now deeply drawn into our paths.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 114
“… it is the majesty of God (vv. 2:1-2) translated into faithfulness (v. 14) that gives rise to hope (vv. 14-17). This sequence of majesty… faithfulness… hope means that the last petition is not an act of defiance but is precisely an act of fidelity.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 115
“The speaker has concluded that our situation is not finally defined by dust and grass, but by the one who makes us at home safely.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 115
“In the midst of the reality, the thou of God invites prayerful Israel to move on in hope.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 115
Alter, Robert. 2007. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company
WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.
Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022. Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.
Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House.
Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.
Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.
Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes and Wilkes Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books.
WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.
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DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.
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NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
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Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
Morgan, Michael. 2010. The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.
Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres
OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.
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