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Psalm 90:13
Relent, LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
11Who knows the power of your anger, your wrath according to the fear that is due to you?
12So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13Relent, LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
14Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice 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.
Notice
“Relent, LORD!” is a bold plea within a psalm that faces God's anger, asking him to have compassion on people who remain his servants.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want to name before God after praying the words “How long?”
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 6:3My soul is also in great anguish. But you, LORD—how long?Both prayers ask the LORD how long, leaving the question open while seeking him in distress.
Genesis 18:14Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son.”Both concern the LORD and time: the psalm asks how long, while Genesis names a set time for Sarah's son.
Deuteronomy 32:36For the LORD will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, that there is no one remaining, shut up or left …The psalm asks for compassion on God's servants; Deuteronomy declares that compassion when their power is gone.
Psalm 106:45He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.Psalm 90 asks God to relent; Psalm 106 recounts his turning toward his people in covenant loving kindness.
Psalm 135:14For the LORD will judge his people and have compassion on his servants.Both name compassion for the LORD's servants, as a plea in Psalm 90 and a declaration in Psalm 135.
Psalm 80:14Turn again, we beg you, God of Armies. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,Both plead for God to turn toward those praying, asking for compassion or for his attention to the vine.
Exodus 32:12Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth’? Turn …Both prayers ask God to turn from anger toward his people, seeking relief from the harm they face.
Jonah 3:9Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”Both speak of God relenting from anger, with the psalm pleading for compassion and Jonah expressing hope of survival.
Amos 7:6The LORD relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” says the Lord GOD.Both speak of the LORD relenting: the psalm requests it, and Amos reports his declaration that something shall not happen.
Amos 7:3The LORD relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” says the LORD.The psalm pleads for the LORD to relent, while Amos records that the LORD relented.
Joel 2:13–14Tear your heart and not your garments, and turn to the LORD, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and …The psalm appeals for compassion and relenting; Joel describes the LORD as merciful and one who relents from sending calamity.
Hosea 11:8“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, …The psalm asks God for compassion; Hosea speaks of God's compassion as he questions giving up Ephraim and Israel.
Where this verse fits
Waiting. feeling distant from God. grief.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The plea remains unanswered within this verse. Yet those asking for compassion still address YHWH as his servants; distress has not ended their prayer.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 90:13. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 90 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).