Psalm 102:3 kjv
For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
Psalm 102:3 nkjv
For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth.
Psalm 102:3 niv
For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.
Psalm 102:3 esv
For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.
Psalm 102:3 nlt
For my days disappear like smoke,
and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
Psalm 102 3 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ps 39:4-6 | "...my days are as an handbreadth;...surely every man at his best... is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew:...he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them." | Brevity of life, man as a mere breath |
| Ps 90:5-6 | "You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,...like grass that is renewed in the morning..." | Human life as transient as a dream or grass |
| Ps 103:15-16 | "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone..." | Life’s ephemeral nature |
| Jas 4:14 | "...For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." | Life is a fleeting mist |
| 1 Pet 1:24-25 | "For 'All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever.'" | Brevity of life contrasted with God's Word |
| Job 7:6-7 | "My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope... Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good." | Days are swiftly spent, life as a breath |
| Job 14:1-2 | "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he also flees like a shadow and does not continue." | Short, troubled, fading life |
| Ps 6:2-3 | "Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am faint; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled..." | Physical and spiritual distress |
| Ps 22:14-15 | "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to my jaws..." | Extreme physical suffering, bones disjointed |
| Ps 31:9-10 | "Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body! For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away." | Life and body wasting away due to grief/sin |
| Ps 32:3 | "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long." | Internal anguish affecting bones |
| Ps 38:3 | "There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin." | No soundness, bones unhealthy from distress |
| Ps 42:10 | "As with a deadly wound in my bones, my enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" | Reproach causing pain to bones |
| Prov 17:22 | "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones." | Spiritual state affecting physical being |
| Lam 1:13 | "From above He has sent fire into my bones, and it overpowered them; He has spread a net for my feet; He has turned me back..." | Figurative fire in bones, overpowering pain |
| Job 30:17 | "At night my bones are pierced and ache; my gnawing pains never rest." | Constant internal bone pain |
| Ecc 12:1-7 | (Detailed description of the aging and decline of the human body towards death) | Comprehensive depiction of physical decay |
| Gen 3:19 | "...For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." | Reminder of human mortality and return to dust |
| Rom 8:23 | "...even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." | Groaning due to the body’s limitations and desire for redemption |
| Isa 38:10-12 | (Hezekiah’s lament about his life being cut short, like a tent pulled down.) | Feeling of life cut off abruptly |
| Ps 102:12 | "But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations." | God's eternality, contrasts human fleetingness |
| Heb 13:8 | "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." | Unchanging nature of God/Christ, a stark contrast to human transience |
Psalm 102 verses
Psalm 102 3 Meaning
Psalm 102:3 describes the deep personal anguish and physical decay experienced by the psalmist. It expresses the profound sense that his life is rapidly passing away, vanishing quickly and without substance, likened to smoke. Concurrently, he suffers intense internal physical pain or fever, conveyed by the image of his bones burning, as if consumed by fire from within. The verse conveys the fragility of human existence and the devastating impact of suffering on the entire being.
Psalm 102 3 Context
Psalm 102 is identified by its superscription as "A Prayer of an afflicted person when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord." It is a profound lament, deeply personal in its expression of suffering, yet it transitions to a plea for Zion and ultimately culminates in a declaration of God's enduring sovereignty and faithfulness. Verse 3 stands early in the psalmist's complaint, immediately following his urgent appeals for God to hear his prayer. It graphically illustrates the extent of his distress, articulating both his temporal fragility and his acute physical torment, laying bare the physical and existential agony that compels him to cry out to God. This immediate personal suffering forms the bedrock upon which the later appeals for Zion and the confident declaration of God's eternal nature are built.
Psalm 102 3 Word analysis
- For (כִּי, ki): This causal conjunction introduces the reason or explanation for the urgent pleas made in the preceding verses. The psalmist explains why he is so desperately pouring out his complaint—because of his dire state.
- my days (יָמַי, yamay): Refers to the psalmist's lifespan, his time on earth. It is a fundamental measurement of human existence. The possessive "my" emphasizes the deeply personal nature of this decline.
- vanish (כָלוּ, kalu): From the Hebrew root kalah (כָּלָה), meaning "to complete," "to bring to an end," "to be consumed," or "to vanish." Here, in the Niphal stem, it signifies a passive completion or disappearance. It conveys a rapid, inevitable dissolution, a sense of being spent or used up, or fading out of existence.
- like smoke (בְּעָשָׁן, bə'ashan): This vivid simile emphasizes the fleeting, insubstantial, and easily dissipated nature of human life. Smoke rises, is visible for a moment, and then quickly disperses, leaving no trace. This imagery underscores the brevity and impermanence of existence from the psalmist's perspective. It highlights the feeling of his life's rapid descent toward nothingness.
- my bones (עַצְמוֹתַי, ‘atzmotay): The bones represent the core structure, strength, and essence of the human body. In biblical thought, bones can symbolize the whole person, their vitality, and deep physical or even spiritual condition. Their health signifies well-being, their decay or pain signifies deep distress.
- burn (נִחָרוּ, nikharu): From the Hebrew root kharah (חָרָה), which means "to be hot," "to burn," or "to be inflamed." Here, in the Niphal stem, it suggests an intense, consuming internal heat, often associated with fever, acute pain, or even the parching effect of intense heat or dryness. It conveys an excruciating, pervasive internal agony that afflicts the very core of his being.
- like glowing embers (כְּמוֹקֵד, kəmokéd): From the root yaqad (יָקַד), meaning "to kindle" or "to burn," this refers to something that is intensely hot, like a burning fire or a live coal. This powerful simile underscores the consuming and unrelenting nature of the pain. It’s not just a surface ache, but a deep-seated, internal burning, suggesting a high fever or an illness that consumes the body from within, reducing its strength and vitality.
Psalm 102 3 Bonus section
The imagery in Psalm 102:3 uses parallelism, common in Hebrew poetry. The first clause, "my days vanish like smoke," expresses the brevity and insubstantiality of life, particularly during distress. The second clause, "my bones burn like glowing embers," deepens this by describing an intense physical decay or fever. This form of synthetic parallelism expands upon the initial thought, illustrating both temporal disappearance and internal suffering. The vivid metaphors also serve as an inverted hyperbolic plea by intensely describing the affliction, implicitly appealing to God to intervene in such a desperate condition. This verse sets the stage for the psalmist to articulate his profound need for a divine, unchanging helper, given his own rapid physical dissolution. It underlines a core theological tension: human transience versus divine eternity, which the psalm ultimately resolves by turning to God’s enduring nature.
Psalm 102 3 Commentary
Psalm 102:3 offers a poignant portrayal of utter human desolation. The psalmist experiences life as something rapidly expiring, an evanescent wisp that vanishes into thin air. This vivid imagery of "days vanishing like smoke" speaks to the fleeting nature of life, an acceleration of decline. More acutely, the internal sensation of "bones burning like glowing embers" conveys excruciating, pervasive physical pain—a consuming fever or deep internal agony that affects the very skeletal structure, symbolizing the entire person. This verse encapsulates not just physical sickness but a deep existential crisis, a soul grappling with the proximity of death and the profound fragility of being. It's an honest lament before God, highlighting humanity's transient nature in stark contrast to God's eternal stability, a theme central to Psalm 102. The psalmist, stripped bare by suffering, expresses a universal human experience of vulnerability and desperation when life appears to slip away.