Psalms 90:8

8 Thou hast set our wickednesses in thy sight; our world in the lightening of thy cheer. (Thou hast set our wickednesses before thee; our secret sins in the full light of thy face.)

Psalms 90:8 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 90:8

Thou hast set our sins before thee
The cause of all trouble, consumption, and death; these are before the Lord, as the evidence, according to which he as a righteous Judge proceeds; this is opposed to the pardon of sin, which is expressed by a casting it behind his back, ( Isaiah 38:17 ) ,

our secret sins in the light of thy countenance;
the Targum and Jarchi interpret it of the sins of youth; the word is in the singular number, and may be rendered, "our secret sin" ^F6; which has led some to think of original sin, which is hidden from, and not taken notice of by, the greatest part of the world, though it is the source and spring of all sin. It is not unusual for the singular to be put for the plural, and may intend all such sins as are secretly committed, and not known by other men, and such as are unobserved by men themselves; as the evil thoughts of their hearts, the foolish words of their mouths, and many infirmities of life, that are not taken notice of as sins: these are all known to God, and will be brought to light and into judgment by him, and will be set in "the light of his countenance"; which denotes not a gracious forgiveness of them, but his clear and distinct knowledge of them, and what a full evidence they give against men, to their condemnation and death; and intends not only a future, but the present view the Lord has of them, and his dealings with men in life, and at death, according to them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (wnmle) "mostrum absconditum", Montanus; "sive occultum", Vatablus, Muis, Michaelis.

Psalms 90:8 In-Context

6 early flourish he, and pass; in the eventide fall he down, be he hard, and wax he dry. (yea, that flourisheth in the morning, and groweth up; and then, in the evening, it falleth down, and hardeneth, and groweth dry.)

7 For we have failed in thine ire; and we be troubled in thy strong vengeance. (For we be brought to an end by thy anger; and we be dis-eased, or distressed, by thy fury.)

8 Thou hast set our wickednesses in thy sight; our world in the lightening of thy cheer. (Thou hast set our wickednesses before thee; our secret sins in the full light of thy face.)

9 For all our days have failed; and we have failed in thine ire. Our years (we) shall bethink upon as a spider; (For all our days be brought to an end by thy anger. All our years we shall remember as but a whisper;)

10 the days of our years be those seventy years. Forsooth, if fourscore years/if eighty years be in mighty men; and (yet) the more time of them is travail and sorrow. For mildness came above; and we shall be chastised. (and the days of our years be those seventy years. For strong people, they be eighty years; yet most of that time is trouble, or labour, and sorrow. For life is short; and then we be gone.)