Psalms 102:11

Psa 102:11 My days [are] like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

Ver. 11. My days are like a shadow that declineth] As at sunset the shadows are at longest, but not longlasting.

And I am withered like grass] Mown down, and laid a drying.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 102:11-12. My days are like a shadow — Which “never continueth in one stay, but is still gliding imperceptibly on, lengthening as it goes, and at last vanisheth into darkness. The period of its existence is limited to a day at farthest. The rising sun gives it birth, and in the moment when the sun sets it is no more.” — Horne. And just so, the psalmist intimates, the hopes which they had sometimes entertained of a restitution were quickly cut off and disappointed. But thou shalt endure for ever — But this is my comfort, although we die, and our hopes vanish, yet our God is unchangeable and everlasting, and therefore not to be conquered by his and our enemies, however numerous and powerful, but is constant in his counsels and purposes of mercy to his church, steadfast and faithful in the performance of all his promises; and therefore he both can and will deliver his people. And thy remembrance unto all generations — To the end of time, nay, to eternity: thou shalt be known and honoured; and “the remembrance of thy former works and mercies comforts our hearts, and encourages us to hope, nay, even to rejoice, in the midst of our sorrow and tribulation.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. (Psa 102:11) My days (are) like a shadow inclined, and I (myself) like the grass wither. An inclined shadow is an unusual and obscure expression, but seems to mean a shadow verging towards its disappearance, ready to vanish away. The double or reflexive pronoun (I myself) in the translation of the last clause is necessary to convey the full force of the Hebrew pronoun, which is seldom expressed, except when it is meant to be emphatic, I wither, am withering, or about to wither.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

102:11 The psalmist’s existence seems empty and transitory (102:4; 109:23; 144:4).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. My days are like a shadow that declineth] Or rather, My days decline like the shadow. I have passed my meridian, and the sun of my prosperity is about to set for ever. There may be here an allusion to the declination of the sun towards the south, which, by shortening their days, would greatly lengthen their nights. Similar to the exclamation of a contemporary prophet, Jer 8:20: "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." There is now scarcely any human hope of our deliverance.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. My days are like the shadow which declineth When the sun is directly over our heads, that is to say, at mid-day, we do not observe such sudden changes of the shadows which his light produces; but when he begins to decline towards the west the shadows vary almost every moment, This is the reason why the sacred writer expressly makes mention of the shadow which declineth What he attributes to the afflicted Church seems indeed to be equally applicable to all men; but he had a special reason for employing this comparison to illustrate the condition of the Church when subjected to the calamity of exile. It is true, that as soon as we advance towards old age, we speedily fall into decay. But the complaint here is, that this befell the people of God in the very flower of their age. By the term days is to be understood the whole course of their life; and the meaning is, that the captivity was to the godly as the setting of the sun, because they quickly failed. In the end of the verse the similitude of withered grass, used a little before, is repeated, to intimate that their life during the captivity was involved in many sorrows which dried up in them the very sap of life. Nor is this wonderful, since to live in that condition would have been worse than a hundred deaths had they not been sustained by the hope of future deliverance. But although they were not altogether overwhelmed by temptation, they must have been in great distress, because they saw themselves abandoned by God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) A shadow that declineth.—Rather, a lengthening shadow, growing longer as the day declines, and therefore soon to vanish altogether. (Comp. Psa_109:23.)

“And now the sun had stretched out all the hills.”

MILTON: Lycidas,

See also Note, Son_2:17.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. like a shadow that declineth] Or, like a shadow stretched out (Jer_6:4) towards evening, and about to disappear altogether as the sun sinks below the horizon.

I am withered like grass] Rather, I am withering away like grass. The common emblem for frail and transitory mortality. Cp. Isa_40:7; Jas_1:11.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever,.... This address is made to Christ, as is clear from Psa 102:25, compared with Heb 1:10, who is a divine Person, endures for ever, is from everlasting to everlasting, unchangeably the same in his love, power, wisdom, faithfulness, &c. and though he died as man, he will die no more; he is alive, and lives for evermore; and because he lives, his people shall live also; and he will come again to take them to himself: and, as Mediator, he is King for ever; always continues, as such, to rule over, protect, and defend his people; and is a Priest for ever, and ever lives to make intercession for them; and his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, have a constant virtue in them, to take away sin, and secure from it: the consideration of the perpetuity of Christ, in his person and offices, was a comfort to the psalmist under his troubles, and in a view of his own declining state: the Targum is,

"but thou, O Lord, thy habitation continues for ever in heaven:''

and thy remembrance to all generations; the remembrance of his name Jehovah, or Jesus, or Immanuel, or any other, is sweet and precious to his saints in all ages; and so the remembrance of his works, of what he has done and suffered, especially the great work of redemption; for the remembrance of which the ordinance of the Lord's supper is appointed to be continued till his second coming; and his Gospel is an everlasting one, which will transmit the memory of him to men in every age, to the end of the world; and though all flesh is as grass, and every man dies, even the ministers of the word, yet that itself lives for ever. Aben Ezra reads "thy throne", as agreeing with Lam 5:19, but Kimchi observes that this reading is owing to a bad copy.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

My days are like a shadow that declineth - The shadow made by the gnomon on a sun-dial, which marks the hours as they pass. See 2Ki 20:10. The idea is that the shadow made by the descending sun was about to disappear altogether. It had become less distinct and clear, and it would soon vanish. It would seem from this, that the dial was so made that the shadow indicating the hour ascended when the sun ascended, and declined when the sun went down. See the notes at Isa 38:8.

And I am withered like grass - See the notes at Psa 102:4.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

My days; my hopes, and comforts, and happiness; days being oft put for happy days, or a happy state, as Psa 37:18; Lam 5:21, as elsewhere they are put more generally for the events which happen in those days; in both which cases it is a metonymy of the adjunct.

That declineth; or, that is extended or stretched out to its utmost length, as it is when the sun is setting, when it speedily and totally vanisheth. And just so the hopes of our restitution, which sometimes we have, are quickly cut off and disappointed.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 11. My days are like a shadow that declineth. His days were but a shadow at best, but now they seem to be like a shadow which was passing away. A shadow is unsubstantial enough, how feeble a thing must a declining shadow be? No expression could more forcibly set forth his extreme feebleness.

And I am withered like grass. He was like grass, blasted by a parching wind, or cut down with a scythe, and then left to be dried up by the burning heat of the sun. There are times when through depression of spirit a man feels as if all life were gone from him, and existence had become merely a breathing death. Heart-break has a marvellously withering influence over our entire system; our flesh at its best is but as grass, and when it is wounded with sharp sorrows, its beauty fades, and it becomes a shrivelled, dried, uncomely thing.

Ver. 11 (first clause). My days (my term of life) are as the lengthened shade, the lengthening shade of evening, that shows the near approach of night. The comparison, though not strictly expressed, is beautifully suggestive of the thought intended. Thomas J. Conant.

Ver. 11 (last clause). The and I, in the Hebrew, stands in designed contrast to "But thou, "Ps 102:12. A. R. Fausset.

Ver. 11-12. I and Thou, or the notable contrast.

1. I: my days are like a shadow, (a) Because it is unsubstantial; because it partakes of the nature of the darkness which is to absorb it; because the longer it becomes the briefer its continuance. (b) I am like grass cut down by the scythe; scorched by drought.

2. Thou. Lord. Ever enduring. Ever memorable. Ever the study of passing generations of men. C. D.

Psalms 102:12*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Shadow that declineth—Which lengthens and darkens till it loses itself in night.

Withered like grass—See on Psa_102:4

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

My days are like a shadow that declineth; literally, that lengthens, as shadows do when the day declines (comp. ver. 24). The psalmist, like his nation, is old before his time; the shades of evening have come upon him, when he should have been in his midday brightness. And I am withered like grass (comp. ver. 4). The "I" here is emphatic (yna) not only is the psalmist"s heart withered, but he himself is altogether scorched and dried up.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

My days are like a shadow that fades

David compares his time left to live on earth to a fading shadow. AT: "My time to remain alive is short like an evening shadow that will soon be gone" (See: Simile)

I have withered like grass

As David's body becomes weak and he is nearing the end of his life, he compares himself to withering grass. AT: "my body has become weak like withered grass" (See: Simile)

withered

dry and wrinkled

your fame is for all generations

"you will be recognized for all generations to come"

fame

being known by many people

translationWords

shadow

life

Yahweh

eternity

generation

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

for You picked me up First You picked me up and now You cast me down from heaven to the earth, and if You had not picked me up first, my disgrace would not be so great.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.