Chapter Eighty-Nine

This psalm belongs to Moses, the well-known leader and lawgiver of the Hebrew nation, as is evident from the epithet “man of God” attached to this name, which has been ascribed especially to Moses from deep antiquity (see Deut 33:1; Josh 14:6; Dan. 9, etc.). In this psalm Moses, first confessing the extraordinary greatness of God, depicts the nothingness and sinfulness of man before Him, speaks of the deserved misfortunes experienced by the Hebrews, and implores God to be merciful to them. From the content of the psalm, one can conclude that it was written at the end of Moses’ life, after forty years of wandering, before the entry of the Hebrews into Palestine, when they had already borne punishment from God for their disbelief in Him.

You, O Lord, are eternal and unchanging: You existed before the formation of mountains; generations of men succeed one another, thousands of years before You are like one day, but You are one and the same (1–6). We perish from Your wrath for our sins: our life is shortened (7–11). Teach us, O Lord, wisdom, have mercy on us and pour out Your favor upon us (12–17).

Psalm 89:2. O Lord! You are our refuge from generation to generation. “Refuge from generation to generation” – the Lord, from the time of Abraham’s election, has always been favorably disposed toward the Hebrews, and since only God is eternal, firm and lasting protection can be found only in Him.

Psalm 89:4. You return man to dust and say: “Return, sons of men! Man before Him is complete nothingness. The Lord “returns man to dust” – by God’s law man, with death, again returns to the earth from which he was taken.

Psalm 89:5. For before Your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday when it has passed, and like a watch in the night. Psalm 89:6. You like a flood sweep them away; they are like a sleep, like grass, which grows in the morning, blossoms in the morning and is green, in the evening is cut down and withers; The Lord is eternal, before Him a thousand years are like yesterday, i.e., without a trace, and therefore imperceptibly, have disappeared; like “a watch in the night” (a night guard), divided into three parts (shifts), which for one sleeping pass completely unnoticed. Therefore the years of human life are nothing before God’s eternity; human life can be compared with grass, which appears in the morning and by evening is dried up. Human generations are destroyed, they are swept away as if by a flood.

Psalm 89:7. for we perish from Your wrath and are troubled by Your anger. Psalm 89:8. You have set our iniquities before You, and our secret sins in the light of Your face. Psalm 89:9. All our days have passed in Your wrath; we waste away our years like a whisper. Psalm 89:10. The days of our years are seventy years, and if by reason of strength eighty years; and the best of them are labor and sorrow, for they pass quickly, and we fly away. On behalf of the people Moses confesses before God the sinfulness and the deservedness of the misfortunes sent upon him for punishment. The people were perishing from divine wrath (probably referring to the death of Hebrews during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness); because the Lord knows both all their actions (“our iniquities before You”) and even thoughts and feelings (“our secret sins in the light of Your face” – our life is clear, open before You). The consequence of the sins of the Hebrews and punishment for them from God was poverty, the instability of their external well-being, and the shortening of life expectancy. Their life became poor and shortened; it became as brief as a whisper compared to the life of previous generations. The duration of life is now determined by seventy years, those of stronger constitution reach eighty. But even this final period of human life, which ought to be the best time, since here man should quietly enjoy the fruits of his previous laborious life, nevertheless, is characterized by complete weakness, helplessness, and illness (“labor and sorrow”).

Psalm 89:11. Who knows the power of Your wrath, and Your anger according to the measure of Your fear? Psalm 89:12. Teach us to count our days, so that we may gain a wise heart. The Hebrew nation formerly provoked divine wrath by its conduct, and if it does not reform even now, then “who knows the power of Your wrath, and Your anger according to the measure of Your fear?” Who can know in what else Your wrath will be manifested toward it? Who can predict and in advance calculate the types of misfortunes? To avoid possible future misfortunes, Moses implores God to teach him to “count our days” – to value the days of life to acquire piety and strengthen himself in wise and worthy adherence to His commandments.

Psalm 89:13. Turn, O Lord! How long? Have mercy on Your servants. Psalm 89:14. Satisfy us in the morning with Your mercy, and we will be joyful and glad all our days. Psalm 89:15. Make us glad for the days You have afflicted us, for the years we have seen trouble. Now Moses implores God to hear the nation’s prayer for mercy, so that the Lord might fill their subsequent life with His blessing in exchange for the misfortunes they have endured up to this time. In worship, this psalm is used at the 1st hour. As the entry into Palestine was for the Hebrews the beginning of a new life, so the sunrise begins a new day of man’s life: as then Moses prayed for the weak Hebrews before God, so in Orthodox worship the Church with his words implores God for the well-being of the believer in the coming day, being aware of the weakness of his strength in accomplishing salvation.