Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalm 90 is unique among all the psalms — it's the only one attributed to Moses, the leader who guided the Israelite people out of slavery in Egypt roughly 3,400 years ago, making it one of the oldest prayers in the entire Bible. In this opening verse, Moses meditates on God's existence before time itself — before the mountains were formed, before the earth existed. The phrase "from everlasting to everlasting" is the Hebrew way of saying infinite in both directions: no beginning, no end. It's a declaration that God's nature is utterly unlike anything in creation — not just very old, but existing outside of time altogether.
God, the word "eternal" is almost too large for me to hold. But I want to try. Before my fears, before my failures, before I drew my first breath — you were. And you will be when all of this is over. Let that be enough for me today. Amen.
Here's a thought that might either keep you up at night or settle you into the deepest sleep you've had in years: before the first mountain pushed up from the earth's crust, before the first atom collided, before "before" even meant anything — God was. Not waiting. Not preparing. Not warming up. Just *being*, fully and completely, with nothing missing. Moses wrote this. A man who had watched an empire crumble, who had wandered a desert for forty years, who had buried an entire generation of people he loved in the sand. If anyone had reason to feel that God was distant or chronically late, it was him. And yet here he is, anchoring himself not to his circumstances but to the eternal nature of God. When your world is shifting — when the news is bad, the diagnosis is uncertain, the relationship feels like sand — Moses is pressing something solid into your hands. Not a promise that things will get easier, but a reminder of what has always been true and always will be: from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. That doesn't change based on your week.
What does it actually mean for God to exist "from everlasting to everlasting"? How is that different from simply being very ancient or long-lived?
When has your sense of God's presence or stability felt most real to you — what was happening in your life at that time?
If God truly exists outside of time, what might that mean for the things you're most anxious about right now — things that feel enormous and urgent?
Moses wrote this after decades of grief and hardship, not from a place of ease. How might someone who is currently suffering receive this verse differently than someone who isn't — and how can you be sensitive to that?
What is one concrete way you could remind yourself of God's eternal nature this week — a habit, a phrase you write somewhere, a moment you build into your day?
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is , and which was , and which is to come ; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Revelation 1:4
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:28
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
Deuteronomy 33:27
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
1 Timothy 6:16
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exodus 3:14
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Hebrews 13:8
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Isaiah 57:15
Before the mountains were born Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God.
AMP
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
ESV
Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
NASB
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
NIV
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
NKJV
Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
NLT
long before the mountains were born, Long before you brought earth itself to birth, from "once upon a time" to "kingdom come"—you are God.
MSG