תְּפִלָּה לְמֹשֶׁה אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים

A prayer of Moses, man of God. The psalm begins with words of praise: Lord, You have been a dwelling place for us from generation to generation; we “dwell” within You forever in the sense that Your existence is the only thing that is essential and eternal, and all of creation exists only through You.

אֲדֹנָי מָעוֹן אַתָּה הָיִיתָ לָּנוּ בְּדֹר וָדֹר בְּטֶרֶם הָרִים יֻלָּדוּ ותְּחוֹלֵל אֶרֶץ וְתֵבֵל וּמֵעוֹלָם עַד עוֹלָם אַתָּה אֵל

Before the birth of mountains, before You brought forth the earth and the world, forever and for eternity have You been the Almighty.

תָּשֵׁב אֱנוֹשׁ עַד דַּכָּא וַתֹּאמֶר שׁוּבוּ בְנֵי אָדָם

The psalm now presents the crux of the problem: You bring man down until he is crushed, and then You say: Return, repent, sons of man.

כִּי אֶלֶף שָׁנִים בְּעֵינֶיךָ כְּיוֹם אֶתְמוֹל כִּי יַעֲבֹר ואַשְׁמוּרָה בַלָּיְלָה

Indeed, a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday gone by. Time, as we know it, is irrelevant to God. For Him, a thousand years are like a day gone by; they leave no trace of palpable experience but only memory. Like a watch of the night. A portion of the night is known as a “watch.” The years pass like a night watch, a period of time that goes unnoticed by mortals, who sleep through it.

זְרַמְתָּם שֵׁנָה יִהְיוּ בַּבֹּקֶר כֶּחָצִיר יַחֲלֹף

You make them, man’s days, flow past, as if in sleep, like a passing dream, not quite real. In the morning, when this sleep is finished, they pass on like grass that dries up and perishes,

בַּבֹּקֶר יָצִיץ וְחָלָף לָעֶרֶב יְמוֹלֵל וְיָבֵשׁ

sprouting in the morning and then passing on, by evening broken and withered. Such are the days of our lives compared with divine eternity: an experience that is both ephemeral and inconsequential.

כִּי כָלִינוּ בְאַפֶּךָ וּבַחֲמָתְךָ נִבְהָלְנוּ

We are consumed by Your wrath even in the midst of our swiftly flowing days, frightened by Your rage, distressed and attempting to hide.

שַׁתָּ עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ לְנֶגְדֶּךָ עֲלֻמֵנוּ לִמְאוֹר פָּנֶיךָ

You have placed our transgressions before You, our hidden things before the light of Your countenance. Our clandestine acts are all plainly revealed before You; we cannot hide from You.

כִּי כָל יָמֵינוּ פָּנוּ בְעֶבְרָתֶךָ כִּלִּינוּ שָׁנֵינוּ כְמוֹ הֶגֶה

Being human, we sin, and we are punished, and all of our days have passed by in Your fury; we have exhausted our years fleetingly, like an utterance, which leaves no trace a moment after it is spoken.

יְמֵי שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה ורָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן כִּי גָז חִישׁ וַנָּעֻפָה

The days of our lives in it, in this world, are a mere seventy years, or if with might, eighty years; and even their pride, referring to our greatest accomplishments, is toil in vain and emptiness. Amal va’aven, translated here as “toil and emptiness,” can also mean “sin and wrongdoing.” Our lives are swiftly passing, and we fly away. One of the reasons our achievements are insignificant is that our lives are exceedingly brief. We are so taken up with everyday, mundane matters that we invest neither the time nor the strength to consider what is truly important, namely, living in a proper manner and repenting any wrongdoing on our part.

מִי יוֹדֵעַ עֹז אַפֶּךָ וּכְיִרְאָתְךָ עֶבְרָתֶךָ

Who among us knows the extent of the power of Your wrath? As the fear of You, so is Your fury. On the one hand, we are aware that sins bear consequences, even if we underestimate the severity of the punishment we might incur. On the other hand, we are rarely confronted with an opportunity to grasp reality and assess the significance of our lives.

לִמְנוֹת יָמֵינוּ כֵּן הוֹדַע ונָבִיא לְבַב חָכְמָה

Teach us, grant us the wisdom, to count each of our days, to realize that our lives are brief and that each day counts, so we might thereby acquire a heart of wisdom. If we attain this awareness of the passage of time, we might at least refrain from pursuing matters that are worthless or wrong; while they may be attractive in the short run, they have no lasting value and can lead us to incur punishment.

שׁוּבָה ה' עַד מָתָי וְהִנָּחֵם עַל עֲבָדֶיךָ

The last part of the psalm is an entreaty based less on man’s goodness and more on his helplessness and mortality: Return to us and show us grace, Lord; how long will You remain distanced from us? Have pity on Your servants. This expression is used by Moses elsewhere as well; it is an appeal to God to extend His mercy toward us even if we are not worthy of it.

שַׂבְּעֵנוּ בַבֹּקֶר חַסְדֶּךָ ונְרַנְּנָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בְּכָל יָמֵינוּ

Sate us in the morning, a reference to the early years of our lives, with Your kindness, so we may sing and rejoice all our days. Kindness shown to man in his youth is a source of joy throughout his life, as its memory always remains with him.

שַׂמְּחֵנוּ כִּימוֹת עִנִּיתָנוּ שְׁנוֹת רָאִינוּ רָעָה

Alternatively, if You do not shower us with kindness at the beginning of our lives, give us joy corresponding to the days You afflicted us, those years of evil that we saw, so that at least the end of our lives will be good.

יֵרָאֶה אֶל עֲבָדֶיךָ פָעֳלֶךָ וַהֲדָרְךָ עַל בְּנֵיהֶם

Once we have a measure of rest and tranquility, Your deeds will be seen by Your servants; we will be able to contemplate Your actions. This is also an implied request that God show us His mighty deeds. And let Your majesty be witnessed by their children.

וִיהִי נֹעַם אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהֵינוּ עָלֵינוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ כּוֹנְנָה עָלֵינוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ כּוֹנְנֵהוּ

The psalm ends with a general prayer for our lives: May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us, so that all of our difficult, tireless efforts in our endeavors, whose continuity and success we must not take for granted, will prove worthwhile in the long run, through Your establishing the work of our hands for us in our lifetime; indeed, establishing the work of our hands.