Psalm 90

Psalm 90
"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations"
Painting "Psalm 90. V. 10." (Psalm 90:10) by Ludwig Noster [de] (1909)
Other name
  • Psalm 89
  • "Domine refugium tu factus es nobis in generatione et generatione"
Writtenby Ethan the Ezrahite
Textattributed to Moses
LanguageHebrew (original)
Psalm 90
BookBook of Psalms
Hebrew Bible partKetuvim
Order in the Hebrew part1
CategorySifrei Emet
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part19

Psalm 90 is the 90th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 89. In Latin, it is known as "Domine refugium tu factus es nobis in generatione et generatione".[1] It is the opening psalm of Book 4 of the psalms.[2] Uniquely among the Psalms, it is attributed to Moses. It is well known for its reference in verse 10 to human life expectancy being 70 or 80 ("threescore years and ten", or "if by reason of strength ... fourscore years", in the King James Version): it is believed that this verse was the influence for the opening words of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.[3]

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic liturgies. It has been set to music, for example by Baroque composers Heinrich Schütz in German. Charles Ives completed a choral setting in 1924.

  1. ^ Parallel Latin/English Psalter, Psalmus 89 (90). Archived 2017-05-07 at the Wayback Machine Medievalist.
  2. ^ Psalm 90: header to this psalm in the New King James Version
  3. ^ "Gettysburg Address: The lost art of the quotable speech". CNN.com. 19 November 2013.