4 Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.
(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days upon earth are a shadow);
For we must needs die, and are as water split on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God take away life, but deviseth means, that he that is banished be not an outcast from him.
For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding.
Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, And bringest me into judgment with thee?
Behold, thou hast made my days `as' handbreadths; And my life-time is as nothing before thee: Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah Surely every man walketh in a vain show; Surely they are disquieted in vain: He heapeth up `riches', and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: In the balances they will go up; They are together lighter than vanity.
Oh remember how short my time is: For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 144
Commentary on Psalms 144 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 144
The four preceding psalms seem to have been penned by David before his accession to the crown, when he was persecuted by Saul; this seems to have been penned afterwards, when he was still in trouble (for there is no condition in this world privileged with an exemption from trouble), the neighbouring nations molesting him and giving him disturbance, especially the Philistines, 2 Sa. 5:17. In this psalm,
In singing this psalm we may give God the glory of our spiritual privileges and advancements, and fetch in help from him against our spiritual enemies; we may pray for the prosperity of our souls, of our families, and of our land; and, in the opinion of some of the Jewish writers, we may refer the psalm to the Messiah and his kingdom.
A psalm of David.
Psa 144:1-8
Here,
Psa 144:9-15
The method is the same in this latter part of the psalm as in the former; David first gives glory to God and then begs mercy from him.