New Living Translation
Psalms 109:23
23I am fading like a shadow at dusk; I am brushed off like a locust.
Psalms 109:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
- New International Version (NIV)I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.
Context of Psalms 109:23
21But deal well with me, O Sovereign Lord, for the sake of your own reputation! Rescue me because you are so faithful and good. 22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is full of pain. I am fading like a shadow at dusk; I am brushed off like a locust. 24My knees are weak from fasting, and I am skin and bones. 25I am a joke to people everywhere; when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn.
Read all of Psalms 109Psalms 109:23 word by word
כְּצֵל־כִּנְטוֹת֥וֹ נֶהֱלָ֑כְתִּי נִ֝נְעַ֗רְתִּי כָּֽאַרְבֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 109:23
- Psalms 102:11My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass.
- Psalms 144:4For they are like a breath of air; their days are like a passing shadow.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.
- Job 14:2We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.
- Ecclesiastes 6:12In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
- Ecclesiastes 8:13The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.
- James 4:14How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
- Psalms 102:10because of your anger and wrath. For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
- Exodus 10:13So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the Lord caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east wind had brought the locusts.
Commentaries on Psalms 109:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23I am gone like the shadow - "I have walked like the declining shadow," - I have passed my meridian of health and life; and as the sun is going below the horizon, so am I about to go under the earth. I am tossed up and down as the locust - When swarms of locusts take wing, and infest the countries in the east, if the wind happen to blow briskly, the swarms are agitated and driven upon each other, so as to appear to be heaved to and fro, or tossed up and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23I am gone like the shadow when it declineth - See the notes at Psalm 102:11. I am tossed up and down as the locust - Agitated, moved, driven about, as a cloud of locusts is by the wind. The meaning of the whole is, that he was frail and weak, and needed strength from on high.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-31Verses 21-31 The psalmist takes God's comforts to himself, but in a very humble manner. He was troubled in mind. His body was wasted, and almost worn away. But it is better to have leanness in the body, while the soul prospers and is in health, than to have leanness in the soul, while the body is feasted. He was ridiculed and reproached by his enemies. But if God bless us, we need not care who curses us; for how can they curse whom God has not cursed…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23A lengthening shadow suggests a temporary, empty life (Psalms 102:11; 144:4). A single locust can be easily brushed off clothing.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. like the shadow--(Compare Psa 102:11). tossed up and down--or, "driven" (Ex 10:19).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 109:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 109
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries