Psalms 90:5

3 You turn man to destruction,
And say, ^a“Return, O children of men.”

4 ^aFor a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.

5 You carry them away like a flood;
^aThey are like a sleep.
In the morning ^bthey are like grass which grows up:

6 In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.

8 ^aYou have set our iniquities before You,
Our ^bsecret sins in the light of Your countenance.

9 For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.

10 The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

11 Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

12 ^aSo teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Return, O Lord!
How long?
And ^ahave compassion on Your servants.

14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
^aThat we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Psalms 90:5

Thou carriest them away as with a flood - Life is compared to a stream, ever gliding away; but sometimes it is as a mighty torrent, when by reason of plague, famine, or war, thousands are swept away daily. In particular cases it is a rapid stream, when the young are suddenly carried off by consumptions, fevers, etc.; this is the flower that flourisheth in the morning, and in the evening is cut down and withered. The whole of life is like a sleep or as a dream. The eternal world is real; all here is either shadowy or representative. On the whole, life is represented as a stream; youth, as morning; decline of life, or old age, as evening, death, as sleep; and the resurrection as the return of the flowers in spring. All these images appear in these curious and striking verses, Psalms 90:3-6.

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