Psalms 109:24

Psa 109:24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.

Ver. 24. My knees are weak through fasting] Either for lack of meat or stomach to it; genua labant, my knees buckle under me, the strong men bow themselves, Ecc 12:3.

My flesh faileth of fatness] I am lean and low brought. Christ might well cry out, "My leanness, my leanness"; so busy he was for his Father, and so worn out, that they judged him well nigh fifty, when he was not much over thirty, Joh 8:57.

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 109:24-25. My knees are weak through fasting — Either through forced fasting for want of food, when he was persecuted, or for want of appetite when he was sick, or through voluntary fasting, which the frequency and long continuance of his sufferings induced him to use. I became also a reproach unto them — Instead of that pity, which either religion or humanity should have taught them to exercise toward a person in extreme misery, they loaded me with reproaches and scorns. They shaked their heads — By way of contempt and derision. In all this David was a type of Christ, who, in his humiliation, was thus wounded, thus weakened, thus reproached, and at whom they thus shook their heads, saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. He was also a type of the church, which is often afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted.

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

For hunger, that came of sorrow, he was lean, and his natural moisture failed him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 24. My knees are weak through fasting] That hunger is as soon felt in weakening the knees, as in producing an uneasy sensation in the stomach, is known by all who have ever felt it. Writers in all countries have referred to this effect of hunger. Thus Tryphioderus Il. Excid. ver 155: -

Τειρομενου βαρυθειεν ατερπεΐ γουνατα λιμῳ.

"Their knees might fail, by hunger's force subdued;

And sink, unable to sustain their load."

MERRICK.

SO PLAUTUS, Curcul, act. ii., scen. 3: -

Tenebrae oboriuntur, genua inedia succidunt.

"My eyes grow dim; my knees are weak with hunger."

And LUCRETIUS, lib. iv. ver. 950: -

Brachia, palpebraeque cadunt, poplitesque procumbunt.

"The arms, the eyelids fall; the knees give way." Both the knees and the sight are particularly affected by hunger.

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

24 My knees are become feeble. Though David had the necessaries of life, yet he emaciated himself by voluntary abstinence, to which, as well as to prayer, he gave himself, and therefore we may regard this verse as expressive of his sorrow and sadness. We may also understand it as expressive of his having no relish for meat or drink, knowing, as we do, that persons who are in sorrow and sadness have no appetite for food; even life itself is burdensome to them. Should any one prefer restricting the interpretation to David’s being in want of the necessaries of life, when he hid himself in the dens of wild beasts, to escape the fury of his enemies, and was then subjected to hunger and thirst, he may do so. It appears to me, however, that by this language he intends to point out the extreme anguish which he felt, because, with death staring him in the face, he loathed all food; and this is in accordance with the next clause, in which he says, my flesh faileth of fatness; because “a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones,” (Proverbs 17:22) By the term, fatness, some understand delicacies; meaning that he was deprived of all that food which is pleasing to the palate. The more natural way is to consider it as denoting his becoming emaciated by reason of grief and fasting, inasmuch as the natural moisture was wasted. Another proof of his sad situation arises from this, that, according to what he states in Psalm 22:7, he was held in scorn by all. It is, indeed, a sad and bitter thing which God’s children endure, when they are made to feel that the curse which he denounces against the transgressors of his law is directed against themselves; for the law says to the despisers of it,

“Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and laughing-stock,” (Deuteronomy 28:37)

With this species of temptation David was assailed; and he declares that he was not only regarded as a condemned person, but also cruelly derided; God at the same time coming in for a share of it; for it is usual with the ungodly to conduct themselves with insolence and pride towards us when they see us oppressed under afflictions, and, at the same time, to rail at our faith and piety, because God renders us no help in our miseries.

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.

(24) Faileth of fatness.—Literally, has failed me from fat, i.e., has dwindled away.

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

24. faileth of fatness] Hath grown lean and lost fatness may be the meaning. But more probably, is shrunken for want of oil. In his distress he had no appetite for food (Psa_102:4), and like a mourner (2Sa_14:2) abstained from the use of oil.

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.

I became also a reproach unto them,.... Or they reproached him; not only in life, traducing his conversation, blaspheming his miracles, calling him a Samaritan, saying he had a devil, and charging him with sedition; but at the time of his death they reviled him, and treated him in the most opprobrious manner.

When they looked upon me, they shaked their heads; which was verified in the Jews as they passed by the cross of Christ, whither they came to stare upon him and scoff at him, Mat 27:39.

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

My knees are weak through fasting - Hunger; want of food. Strength to stand is connected with firmness in the knee-joints, and hence, weakness and feebleness are denoted by the giving way of the knees. Compare Heb 12:12.

And my flesh faileth of fatness - I am lean and weak. There is not the proper supply for my strength. The idea seems to have been that fatness (Hebrew, oil) was necessary to strength.

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

Through fasting; either with voluntary fasts, to which the frequency and long continuance of my calamities obliged me; or with forced fasts, sometimes through want of necessary provisions, but most commonly from that loathing of meat, which was occasioned by his excessive sorrows and terrors. See Poole "Psa 58:8".

Of fatness; or, for want of fatness. See the like Hebrew phrases Gen 18:26; Jer 48:45; Lam 4:9.

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

Ver. 24. My knees are weak through fasting; either religious fasting, to which he resorted in the dire extremity of his grief, or else through loss of appetite occasioned by distress of mind. Who can eat when every morsel is soured by envy? This is the advantage of the slanderer, that he feels nothing himself, while his sensitive victim can scarcely eat a morsel of bread because of his sensitiveness. However, the good God knoweth all this, and will succour his afflicted. The Lord who bids us confirm the feeble knees will assuredly do it himself. "And my flesh faileth of fatness." He was wasted to a skeleton, and as his body was emaciated, so was his soul bereft of comfort: he was pining away, and all the while his enemies saw it and laughed at his distress. How pathetically he states his case; this is one of the truest forms of prayer, the setting forth of our sorrow before the Lord. Weak knees are strong with God, and failing flesh has great power in pleading.

Psalms 109:25*

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

24. Fasting— “The word is never used of that want of eating which proceeds from want of appetite, but always of the exercise of penitence, as practised by men when overwhelmed, or when threatened, with severe suffering.”—Hengstenberg.

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

My knees are weak through fasting. I have brought myself down to extreme weakness by penitential fasting for my sins. (comp. Psa_35:13 Psa_69:10) And my flesh faileth of fatness; literally, of oil. In my state of mourning and penitence I have abstained from anointing myself, (2Sa_14:2) which has still further weakened me.

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

My knees are weak

This means that he is weak and it is difficult for him to stand. AT: "I have difficulty standing" or "My body is weak" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

from fasting

"because I am not eating any food"

I am turning to skin and bones

This means that he has lost a lot of weight. AT: "my body has become very thin" (See: Idiom)

I am disdained by my accusers

This can be stated in active form. AT: "My accusers ridicule me" (See: Active or Passive)

shake their heads

This is an act of disapproval.

translationWords

fast

accuse

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