Psalm 90:3

3 Turn not man back to his low place, whereas thou saidst, Return, ye sons of men?

Psalm 90:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 90:3

Thou turnest man to destruction
Or to death, as the Targum, which is the destruction of man; not an annihilation of body or soul, but a dissolution of the union between them; the words may be rendered, "thou turnest man until he is broken" ^F2; and crumbled into dust; thou turnest him about in the world, and through a course of afflictions and diseases, and at last by old age, and however by death, returns him to his original, from whence he came, the dust of the earth, which he becomes again, ( Genesis 3:19 ) ( Ecclesiastes 12:7 ) the grave may be meant by destruction:

and sayest, return, ye children of men,
or "Adam"; from whom they all sprung, and in whom they all sinned, and so became subject to death; to these he says, when by diseases he threatens them with a dissolution, return by repentance, and live; and sometimes, when they are brought to the brink of the grave, he returns them from sickness to health, delivers them from the pit, and enlightens them with the light of the living, as he did Hezekiah: or this may refer to the resurrection of the dead, which will be by Christ, and by his voice calling the dead to return to life, to rise and come to judgment; though some understand this as descriptive of death, when by the divine order and command man returns to his original dust; thus the frailty of man is opposed to the eternity of God. Gussetius understands all this of God's bringing men to repentance, contrition, and conversion; and takes the sense to be,

``thou turnest till he becomes contrite, and sayest, be ye converted, ye sons of Adam;''

which he thinks ^F3 best agrees with the mind of the Apostle Peter, who quotes the following passage, ( 2 Peter 3:8 2 Peter 3:9 ) . Some, as Arama observes, connect this with the following verse; though men live 1000 years, yet they are but as yesterday in the sight of God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (akd de vwna bvt) "convertes hominem usque ad contritionem", Montanus; "donec conteratur", Musculus, Tigurine verion; "donee sit contritus", Vatablus; "ut sit contritus", Junius & Tremellius.
F3 Ebr. Comment. p. 158.

Psalm 90:3 In-Context

1 Lord, thou hast been our refuge in all generations.

2 Before the mountains existed, and before the earth and the world were formed, even from age to age, Thou art.

3 Turn not man back to his low place, whereas thou saidst, Return, ye sons of men?

4 For a thousand years in thy sight are as the yesterday which is past, and as a watch in the night.

5 Years shall be vanity to them: let the morning pass away as grass.

6 In the morning let it flower, and pass away: in the evening let it droop, let it be withered and dried up.

7 For we have perished in thine anger, and in thy wrath we have been troubled.

8 Thou hast set our transgressions before thee: our age is in the light of thy countenance.

9 For all our days are gone, and we have passed away in thy wrath: our years have spun out their tale as a spider.

10 As for the days of our years, in them are seventy years; and if men should be in strength, eighty years: and the greater part of them would be labour and trouble; for weakness overtakes us, and we shall be chastened.

11 Who knows the power of thy wrath?

12 and who knows how to number his days because of the fear of thy wrath? So manifest thy right hand, and those that are instructed in wisdom in the heart.

13 Return, O Lord, how long? and be intreated concerning thy servants.

14 We have been satisfied in the morning with thy mercy; and we did exult and rejoice:

15 let us rejoice in all our days, in return for the days wherein thou didst afflict us, the years wherein we saw evil.

16 And look upon thy servants, and upon thy works; and guide their children.

17 And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and do thou direct for us the works of our hands.