Psalm 90:12-17 is a prayer in which Moses asks God to teach his people to number their days wisely, and to renew them with steadfast love so that their lives and their work might reflect God’s goodness. The passage moves from a sober awareness of human frailty to a bold request for mercy, gladness, and lasting purpose. It belongs to the closing section of Psalm 90, where the poet has just described how brief and troubled human life can feel under God’s displeasure.
12 So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 13 Relent, the LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work appear to your servants; your glory to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 90:12-17 (WEB)
Psalm 90:12-17 Summary
The passage begins with a request for wisdom: teach us to count our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. The psalmist then turns to pleading. He asks God to relent, to have compassion, and to satisfy his people in the morning with steadfast love, so that they may rejoice all their days. He asks that the years of hardship be matched by years of gladness, and that God’s work and glory be seen by the next generation.
The final lines shift from the people’s experience to their daily labor. The speaker asks that God’s favor rest upon them and that the work of their hands be established. The passage ends on a note of confidence that human effort can have meaning when it is joined to God’s blessing rather than left to its own fragile strength.
Context of Psalm 90:12-17
Psalm 90 is traditionally attributed to Moses, “the man of God,” and it stands as the first psalm in Book Four of the Psalter, a collection often associated with reflections on Israel’s wilderness years and the frailty of human life. The psalm’s audience is the covenant community, and its tone is both communal and personal, speaking of “our days” and “your servants” in the same breath. It looks back on generations that have passed away under God’s wrath and looks forward to a future that depends entirely on God’s mercy.
The verses just before our passage describe how short and sorrowful life can be, with seventy or eighty years marked by labor and trouble. That lament is the setting for the request in verse 12. Because the poet has faced the reality of mortality and divine displeasure, his petitions in verses 13 through 17 are urgent and specific. He is not asking for a vague blessing but for a particular kind of life shaped by wisdom, joy, and enduring work.
Psalm 90:12-17 Verse by Verse
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.”
(WEB)
This verse calls the restless heart to stillness and to a deeper knowledge of God. Like Psalm 90, it places human striving beneath God’s sovereignty and invites trust in his exaltation over every circumstance.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted…
(WEB)
These verses speak of life’s seasons and the appointed times for every purpose. They echo the reflection on mortality in Psalm 90 and encourage readers to receive each season as part of a life held by God.
A Prayer Based on Psalm 90:12-17
Lord, teach me to number my days so that I may grow in wisdom and not waste the time you have given me. When I feel the weight of the years and cry out with the question of how long, meet me with your steadfast love. Satisfy me in the morning so that I may rejoice and be glad in you all my days. Make my joy equal to my sorrow, and let the people around me see something of your goodness in my life. Establish the work of my hands, not because my effort is enough on its own, but because you are faithful to bless what is offered to you. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Psalm 90:12-17?
The psalm is traditionally attributed to Moses, who is called “the man of God” in its heading. Scholars debate the exact authorship, but the prayer’s themes of mortality and covenant faithfulness fit the traditional attribution well.
What does it mean to count our days?
To count our days means to live with a clear awareness that life is brief and to let that awareness shape our priorities. It is less about measuring time and more about asking God to help us spend it wisely.
Why does the passage ask God to establish the work of our hands?
The request asks that ordinary labor be given lasting meaning through God’s blessing. It recognizes that human effort is fragile on its own and depends on God’s favor to bear fruit that endures.
