Teach Us to Number Our Days
Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants. Psalm 90:13 · Berean Standard Bible
Come back to us—how much longer do we have to wait? Remember that we're Your servants, and show us mercy.
The psalm now pivots to direct prayer. The people have faced their mortality, their sin, and their need. Now they're asking God to turn toward them with compassion instead of judgment. It's the honest prayer of those who have nothing left but faith.
Moses, praying for the community
This kind of prayer—'Return to us'—echoes throughout Scripture. It's what the prophets will cry out on behalf of Israel during exile. It's always the prayer of people who've experienced separation from God and want restoration.
God, return to us—how much longer will You delay Your compassionate presence? We are Your servants, waiting for Your restoration.
The imperative שׁוּב (shuv, 'return') echoes verse 3's similar verb but with inverted force—where God called humanity to return to dust, the community now calls God to return to them. The phrase 'How long' (עַד־מָתַי, ad-matai) is the classic lament formula (cf. Psalms 6:3, 13:1-2), expressing the psalmist's sense of divine absence. The Targum's paraphrase suggests this was understood eschatologically—as a plea for God's redemptive return at history's end.
The psalmist now speaks directly to God on behalf of the community, moving from meditation to intercession.
This petition becomes the template for the Church's prayer for Christ's parousia (2 Peter 3:12, Revelation 22:20), while also connecting to the prophetic expectation of God's return to restore the temple and Jerusalem (Ezekiel 43:1-9).
11Who knows the power of Your anger? Your wrath matches the fear You are due.
12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
13Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.
14Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotion, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.
Read all of Psalm 90 — The oldest psalm, attributed to Moses. A meditation on time and what makes every day precious.
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