Psalm 90:1-2
Before Moses speaks about human mortality, divine wrath, and the need for wisdom, He begins with God. The first movement of Psalm 90 grounds all later lament and petition in this confession: the Lord has been the covenant habitation of His people in every generation, and He is God from everlasting to everlasting. Israel's stability is not found in wilderness security, political continuity, geographic possession, or human strength, but in the uncreated, sovereign, enduring God. This opening passage teaches that the only way to interpret human shortness rightly is to first behold divine eternality.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
Before Moses speaks about human mortality, divine wrath, and the need for wisdom, he begins with God. The first movement of Psalm 90 grounds all later lament and petition in this confession: the Lord has been the covenant habitation of his people in every generation, and he is God from everlasting to everlasting. Israel's stability is not found in wilderness security, political continuity, geographic possession, or human strength, but in the uncreated, sovereign, enduring God. This opening passage teaches that the only way to interpret human shortness rightly is to first behold divine eternality.
To anchor the worshiping community in the eternal God as its only true refuge across all generations before the psalm turns to the brevity, judgment, and frailty of human life.