Psalm 39:5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

Behold

As nothing

Psalm 89:47

2 Peter 3:8

Verily

General references

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Isaiah 40:30

Bible References

Behold

Yes, in your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday that quickly passes, or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.

Jacob said to Pharaoh, "All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors."

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and they come to an end without hope.

"My days are swifter than a runner, they speed by without seeing happiness.

"Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.

You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

As nothing

Take note of my brief lifespan! Why do you make all people so mortal?

Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.

Verily

You severely discipline people for their sins; like a moth you slowly devour their strength. Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)

Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air.

People are like a vapor, their days like a shadow that disappears.

"Futile! Futile!" laments the Teacher, "Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!"

Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded: "All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless -- like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth."

All the nations are insignificant before him; they are regarded as absolutely nothing.

General references

"Futile! Futile!" laments the Teacher, "Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!"

Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble.