Chapter Ninety

This psalm in the Hebrew Bible has no designation of the writer’s name, but from certain features of its content, the occasion and time of composition can be definitively indicated. In Ps 90:1-4 is depicted a righteous person living solely by faith and hope in God, protected by Him from numerous enemies who are mysteriously destroyed around the righteous one (Ps 90:7-8). To this righteous person the Lord miraculously extends his life (Ps 90:16). All these characteristics apply to Hezekiah, who when the Assyrians attacked sought help only from God, who destroyed 185,000 of the enemy’s forces. Hezekiah’s life, as is known, was miraculously extended by 15 years. The psalm should be considered as written during the reign of Hezekiah, but by whom is unknown—perhaps by the king himself. The inscription over the psalm in the LXX (and in the Slavonic and Russian Bibles) should therefore be understood as an indication that the psalm was written in imitation of the hymns of praise of David. As written after God had already provided help to the pious king, the psalm contains praise of the righteous one living solely by faith and hope in God, in which (in faith and hope) lies the assurance of salvation from all minor and major misfortunes of life.

He who lives by faith and hope in God will find in Him a Defender who will save him from all misfortunes and evils of life (1–6). Even military attacks of enemies will bring no harm: the enemies will all perish (7–8). Since you have chosen God as your refuge, He will protect you by His angels (9–13). Every prayer of such a righteous one will be heard by the Lord, who will glorify him and “satisfy him with length of days” (14–16).

Psalm 90:1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty, Psalm 90:2. will say to the Lord: “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust! “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High”—he who lives by hope in God, so profound that he seeks intercession from Him alone, he will “rest in the shadow of the Almighty”—will enjoy His protection. The comparison is taken from the custom of ancient Near Eastern hospitality, when a foreigner, having entered the tent of a native, found complete rest and protection there.

Psalm 90:3. He will deliver you from the snare of the hunter, from the deadly pestilence, Psalm 90:4. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will be safe; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart. Psalm 90:5. You will not fear the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, Psalm 90:6. nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. Psalm 90:7. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you: Psalm 90:8. you will only look with your eyes and see the retribution of the wicked. However many, numerous, and great the misfortunes threatening this righteous person may be, the Lord will deliver him from all of them. He will deliver “from the snare of the hunter”—in general from any danger caused by cunning; “from the deadly pestilence”—from all that causes destruction and harm. The Lord will protect him with the same caring love as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, where they feel completely safe (“under His wings you will be safe”). This is because “His faithfulness” will be a protective instrument for the person. Since God loves truth, He will protect the one who is truthful before Him. “Terrors of the night”—hidden secret attacks; from “the arrow that flies by day”—from open attacks; from “the pestilence that stalks in the darkness”—from actions hidden in the darkness of intrigues and schemes; (from “calamity” in the Slavonic Bible—sudden illness); from “the plague that destroys at midday”—from the effects of the scorching southern wind that dries up all vegetation. If enemies attacked the righteous person in an extraordinarily large number, the Lord would destroy them—“a thousand and ten thousand” (round numbers)—in a vast multitude, however none of the destructive calamities sent by God upon the enemies would touch the righteous one.

Psalm 90:10. no evil will befall you, and no plague will come near your dwelling; “No evil will befall you”—misfortune will not touch you personally, “and no plague will come near your dwelling”—nor your possessions. All this was fulfilled in Hezekiah when the Assyrians attacked.

Psalm 90:11. for He will command His angels concerning you—to guard you on all your ways: Psalm 90:12. they will lift you up in their hands, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone; Psalm 90:13. you will tread upon the asp and the cobra; you will trample the lion and the dragon. Psalm 90:14. “Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name. Psalm 90:15. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him, Psalm 90:16. with long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation. The Lord will protect His righteous one with miraculous power. He will send him a guardian angel who will carry him through dangers as if on his hands. The asp and the cobra (types of poisonous snakes, the cobra being the Egyptian cobra) will not harm him; neither will the lion nor the dragon (probably a boa constrictor or python) harm him, because the righteous one loves Me, and the Lord will always hear him. The Lord will fill him “with long life”—not only will He not cut his life short, but will miraculously extend it beyond the natural span of life, which is what happened to Hezekiah. Since it was previously said that God miraculously protects the righteous one, “long life” can be understood not as the natural, ordinary span of human life, but as a miraculous extension of it. In this psalm the speaker’s voice often changes: sometimes he speaks generally of the righteous one, sometimes addresses him personally (verses 3–8), sometimes mingles with him in prayer before God. This psalm is the concluding psalm of the sixth hour. Having instructed each believer through the two preceding psalms of this hour regarding proper participation in the liturgy, here the Church through the words of this song promises them the same reward from God that Hezekiah received for his faith in Him. They are promised the “gift of salvation” (16), which is obtained through worthy reception of Christ in the Eucharist.