Gettysburg Address: Psalm 90 and counting

Gettysburg Address
The New York Times
November 20, 1863

The King James Version of Psalm 90 waxes philosophically about the fleeting days of human lives: The days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away... So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Certainly "labour and sorrow" was the order of the day on July 4, 1863 when the Battle of Gettysburg had just ended.  Huff Post Religion writer Marc Saperstein explains that this was a Saturday, and Rabbi Sabato Morais of Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel Congregation was therefore set to deliver a "Sabbath morning sermon."

Morais was faced with a paradoxical task.  It was not only July 4th, an upbeat holiday in American history, but was also the 17th of Tammuz, a traditional day of mourning in the Jewish calendar.  Plus, the outcome of Gettysburg was not yet fully known.  News did not travel so fast back then, even though Philadelphia was a mere 90 miles away from the tragic site.

Although the Union League had chosen a "Liberty Bell" text from Leviticus for that day (which stated "Proclaim liberty throughout the land..."), Rabbi Morais instead read words from Isaiah 37:3 that harkened back to the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem: This is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and derision. 

Morais nevertheless assured the congregation that he "was not indifferent" to honoring Independence Day, "which four score and seven years ago, brought to this new world light and joy."  The complete text of his sermon was then published in the Jewish Messenger on July 10, 1863.

Had Lincoln read it?  Had the phrase "four score and seven years ago" remained with him while composing the Gettysburg address?  Saperstein emphasizes that possibility...

Resources

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Psalm+90&version=KJV

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-saperstein/gettysburg-address-jewish-connection_b_3539959.html?utm_hp_ref=religion