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Psalm 90:15
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.
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.
16Let your work appear to your servants, your glory to their children.
17Let 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.
Notice
Days and years measure the boldness of this prayer: the people ask the God who afflicted them for gladness as long as their suffering.
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What days or years come to mind as you read this request for gladness?
Write on thisHow do you respond to addressing God with “you have afflicted us”?
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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.
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Psalm 30:5For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.Both passages measure suffering and gladness in time: Psalm 90 asks for glad years, while Psalm 30 speaks of joy after weeping.
Psalm 126:5–6Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.Psalm 90 asks for gladness after years of affliction; Psalm 126 promises a harvest of joy to those who sow in tears.
Isaiah 40:1–2“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.The psalm asks God for gladness after affliction; Isaiah records God's command that his people receive comfort.
John 16:20Most certainly I tell you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.The psalm prays for gladness after suffering, while Jesus tells his hearers that their sorrow will turn into joy.
Jeremiah 31:12–13They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of the LORD, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the …Both passages look toward gladness after trouble; Jeremiah describes singing at the LORD's goodness and an end to sorrow.
Isaiah 12:1In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, the LORD; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.Both address the LORD as the one connected with their distress and their relief: affliction and gladness, anger and comfort.
Isaiah 33:2LORD, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.Both are communal prayers asking the LORD for help in trouble: gladness in the psalm, grace and strength in Isaiah.
Isaiah 61:3to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, …The request for gladness after affliction shares Isaiah's movement from mourning to joy, though Isaiah describes what will be given.
Revelation 7:14–17I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering. They washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s …Both passages speak of a people who have suffered; Revelation names the Lamb's blood, while the psalm asks for gladness.
Matthew 5:4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.The psalm asks for gladness after affliction, while Jesus promises comfort to those who mourn.
Judges 3:15But when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a savior for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The children …Both describe an appeal to the LORD; the psalm asks for gladness, while Judges records Israel's cry and God's raising of Ehud.
Deuteronomy 2:14–16The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were …Both texts count hardship in years and connect it to the LORD; Deuteronomy names thirty-eight years and a generation's death.
Where this verse fits
Grief. chronic pain. waiting.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You need not erase the years of trouble to ask God for gladness. This prayer asks him to answer remembered suffering with joy, without setting a date.
Now put it in your words.
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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).