Psalms 90:1

Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90 ¹ 

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90:1 O Lord, you have been our protector ²  through all generations!

Psalms 91:1

Psalm 91 ³ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ⁴  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ⁵ 

and resides in the protective shadow ⁶  of the mighty king ⁷  –

Psalms 116:7

116:7 Rest once more, my soul, ⁸ 

for the Lord has vindicated you. ⁹ 

Matthew 8:20

8:20 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky ¹⁰  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ¹¹ 

Matthew 23:37

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹²  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹³  How often I have longed ¹⁴  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹⁵  you would have none of it! ¹⁶ 

[90:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.

[90:1]  ² tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.

[91:1]  ³ sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ⁵ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ⁶ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ⁷ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[116:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “return, my soul, to your place of rest.”

[116:7]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense (cf. Ps 13:5).

[8:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[8:20]  ¹¹ sn Jesus’ reply is simply this: Does the man understand the rejection he will be facing? Jesus has no home in the world (the Son of Man has no place to lay his head).

[23:37]  ¹² sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ¹³ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ¹⁴ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “you were not willing.”