John Calvin Commentary Psalms 90:9

John Calvin Commentary

Psalms 90:9

1509–1564
Protestant
John Calvin
John Calvin

John Calvin Commentary

Psalms 90:9

1509–1564
Protestant
SCRIPTURE

"For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: We bring our years to an end as a sigh." — Psalms 90:9 (ASV)

For all our days are passed away in thy indignation. This might be viewed as a general confirmation of the preceding sentence: that the whole course of man’s life is suddenly brought to an end as soon as God shows himself displeased. But in my opinion, Moses rather amplifies what he has said above concerning the rigor of God’s wrath, and his strict examination of every case in which he punishes sin.

He asserts that this terror which God brought upon his people was not only for a short time, but that it was extended without intermission even to death. He complains that the Jews had almost wasted away by continual miseries, because God neither remitted nor mitigated his anger. It is therefore not surprising to find him declaring that their years passed away like a tale, when God’s anger rested upon them so unremittingly.