Psalms 90:7

7 For we are consumed by thy anger; by thy wrath we are overwhelmed.

Psalms 90:7 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 90:7

For we are consumed by thine anger
Kimchi applies this to the Jews in captivity; but it is to be understood of the Israelites in the wilderness, who are here introduced by Moses as owning and acknowledging that they were wasting and consuming there, as it was threatened they should; and that as an effect of the divine anger and displeasure occasioned by their sins; see ( Numbers 14:33 Numbers 14:35 ) . Death is a consumption of the body; in the grave worms destroy the flesh and skin, and the reins of a man are consumed within him; hell is a consumption or destruction of the soul and body, though both always continue: saints, though consumed in body by death, yet not in anger; for

when flesh and heart fail,
or "is consumed", "God is the strength of their hearts, and their portion for ever", ( Psalms 73:26 ) , their souls are saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, and their bodies will rise glorious and incorruptible; but the wicked are consumed at death, and in hell, in anger and hot displeasure:

and by thy wrath are we troubled;
the wrath of God produces trouble of mind, whenever it is apprehended, and especially in the views of death and eternity; and it is this which makes death the king of terrors, and men subject to bondage in life through fear of it, even the wrath to come, which follows upon it; nothing indeed, either in life or at death, or death itself, comes in wrath to the saints; nor is there any after it to them, though they have sometimes fearful apprehensions of it, and are troubled at it.

Psalms 90:7 In-Context

5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning:

6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are consumed by thy anger; by thy wrath we are overwhelmed.

8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

9 For all our days pass away under thy wrath, our years come to an end like a sigh.