His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish.
Parallel Translations
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His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish.
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His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
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His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his dust; in that very day his thoughts perish.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Psalms 146:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Psalms 104:29 You hide your face; they are troubled. You take away their breath; they die and return to the dust.
- Genesis 2:7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
- Genesis 3:19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:6 We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing.
- Psalms 33:10 Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
- Job 14:10 But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?
- Job 14:21 His sons come to honor, and he doesn’t know it. They are brought low, but he doesn’t perceive it of them.
- Job 17:11 My days are past. My plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.
- Job 27:3 (for the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils);
- Isaiah 2:22 Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?
- Daniel 5:23 but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which don’t see, or hear, or know; and you have not glorified the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways.
- Job 17:1 “My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct, and the grave is ready for me.
- Psalms 90:3 You turn man to destruction, saying, “Return, you children of men.”
- Lamentations 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Yahweh, was taken in their pits; of whom we said, under his shadow we will live among the nations.
- Genesis 6:17 I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain As their vain opinions, whereby they flattered themselves and…
As their vain opinions, whereby they flattered themselves and so imagined wicked enterprises.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to…
Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
Ver. 4. His breath goeth forth] It is but in his nostrils at best; every moment ready to puff out; cease from him, therefore, Isa. ii. Man, say the Rabbis, is but a bladder full of air, which can stand on no ground; but, pricked with a pin, it shriveleth to nothing. Man, saith a Father, is nothing else but soul and soil, breath and body; a puff of wind the one, a pile of dust the other, no solidity in either (Naz.).
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He returneth to his earth] Of which he was made, and to which he is condemned, Gen 3:19, and upon which he hath too much set his affections, being totus terreus, entirely of earth; and so the sooner forfeiteth all. It was therefore good counsel that one once gave to a great man, who had showed him his stately house and pleasant gardens: You had need make sure of heaven, my lord, or else, when you die, you will be a very great loser. But this few princes think of; which made the Spanish friar say, There were but few princes in hell; for what reason? there were but few in all.
In that day his thoughts perish] His golden thoughts, his shining white thoughts, irritae diffluunt, come to just nothing. Princes may haply have in their heads whole commonwealths, and the affairs of many kingdoms; as Alexander had, and Tamerlane, who died of an ague in the midst of his great preparations for the conquest of the Greek empire. Or, his thoughts ( ad alios benefaciendos, as Aben Ezra expoundeth it) of doing thee and others good; these fall to the ground with him. Great men’s words are like dead men’s shoes, saith one; he may go barefoot that waiteth for them. Wherefore
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He returneth, in his body, Ecc 12:7,
He returneth, in his body, Ecc 12:7,
to his earth; to that earth from which all mankind, princes not excepted, had their original.
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In that very day, as soon as ever he is dead, his thoughts perish; all his designs and endeavours, either for himself or for others.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain His breath goeth forth,.... That is, the breath of…
His breath goeth forth,.... That is, the breath of a son of man, of any and everyone of the princes; it goes forth continually, and is drawn in again as long as a man lives; but at death it goes forth, and returns no more till the resurrection: the breath which the Lord breathed into man, and which is in his nostrils while he lives, and is very precarious. And when it is taken away, he dies, and
he returneth to his earth; from whence he was taken, and of which he was made; upon which he lived, where he dwelt, and in which he took delight and pleasure, minding earth and earthly things, and which is now all he has; who, though he may have had many large estates and possessions, nay, have ruled over many kingdoms and countries, yet his property of earth is now no more than the length and breadth of a grave; he returns to earth as soon as he dies, becoming a lump of clay; and particularly when he is interred in it, and when by corruption and worms he is turned into it;
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in that very day his thoughts perish; in the day, hour, and moment he dies: not that the soul ceases, or ceases to think at death; it is immortal, and dies not; and, as it exists in a separate state after death, it retains all its powers and faculties, and, among the rest, its power of thinking; which it is capable of exercising, and does, as appears from the case of the souls under the altar, Rev 6:9. But the meaning is, that at death all the purposes and designs of men are at an end; all their projects and schemes, which they had formed, and were pursuing, now come to nothing; whether to do good to others, or to aggrandize themselves and families; and therefore such mortal creatures are not to be depended upon, since all their promises may fail; nay, even their good designs may be frustrated; see Job 17:12.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain That day - As soon as ever he is…
That day - As soon as ever he is dead. Thoughts - All his designs and endeavours either for himself or for others.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. His breath goeth forth] His existence depends…
Verse 4. His breath goeth forth] His existence depends merely, under God, on the air he breathes. When he ceases to respire he ceases to live; his body from that moment begins to claim its affinity to the earth; and all his thoughts, purposes, and projects, whether good or evil, come to nought and perish. He, then, who has no other dependence, must necessarily be miserable.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain His breath goeth forth - He dies like other…
His breath goeth forth - He dies like other people, no matter how exalted he is. See the notes at Isa 2:22.
He returneth to his earth - See the notes at Psa 90:3. The earth - the dust - is “his” -
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(a) It is his, as that from which he was made: he turns back to what he was. Gen 3:19 : “dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
(b) The earth - the dust - the grave is his, as it is his home - the place where he will abide.
(c) It is his, as it is the only property which he has in reversion. All that a man - a prince, a nobleman, a monarch, a millionaire - will soon have will be his grave - his few feet of earth. That will be his by right of possession; by the fact that, for the time being, he will occupy it, and not another man. But that, too, may soon become another man’s grave, so that even there he is a tenant only for a time; he has no permanent possession even of a grave. How poor is the richest man!
In that very day - The very day - the moment - that he dies.
His thoughts perish - His purposes; his schemes; his plans; his purposes of conquest and ambition; his schemes for becoming rich or great; his plans of building a house, and laying out his grounds, and enjoying life; his design of making a book, or taking a journey, or giving himself to ease and pleasure. Luk 12:19-20 : “and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry; but God said unto him, Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of time.” Such are all the purposes of men!
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. His breath goeth—In Hebrew rhetoric the first clause…
4. His breath goeth—In Hebrew rhetoric the first clause is often a condition. When “his breath,” etc. His thoughts perish, means, not the destruction of the thinking faculty, the mind, but the ruin of his plans.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. Cp. Psa_104:29; Isa_2:22.
4. Cp. Psa_104:29; Isa_2:22.
to his earth] The ‘ground’ (ãdâmâh) from which he was taken and ‘of which his name (âdâm = ‘man’) reminds him.
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his thoughts] Or, purposes. The word is common in Aramaic, but occurs here only in the Heb. of the O.T.
The author of 1 Macc, appears to have had both this passage and Psa_104:29 in his mind when he wrote (1Ma_2:63), “To-day he will be exalted, and to-morrow he will not be found, because he is returned to his dust, and his thought is perished.”
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) In that very day . . .—Comp. Antony’s…
(4) In that very day . . .—Comp. Antony’s words:
“But yesterday the word of Cæsar might
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Have stood against the world; now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence.”
SHAKSPEARE, Julius Cæsar.
Thoughts.—The Hebrew word is peculiar to this passage. “Fabrications” would reproduce its etymological meaning.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth;…
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; or, "when his breath goes forthi.e. , when he breathes his last returns to his earth," i.e. to the earth of which he was made. (Gen_2:7, Gen_2:19) In that very day his thoughts perish. All his schemes and projects (eshtonoth, a word not occurring elsewhere) come to an end are nipped in the bud perish. So weak is he, and not to be depended on.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Ver. 4. Thoughts that perish.
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It has been remarked that whilst in so large a part of the Bible we have the history of the Church, in the Psalms we have the voice of the Church. And a very varied voice it is varied as are the vicissitudes and manifold experiences of the people of God. But here, at the close, the tremulous tones of sorrow and distress, of fear and anxiety, and of piteous pleading, which we have so often met with, are all hushed, and instead, we have one jubilant note of praise at eventide there is light. It is with this Book of Psalms as it is with those who love it most, that both for it and them there is this bright and gladsome ending. But it is for them only. Here, in the words which are before us, a very different termination is contemplated. The enemies of God and of his people are spoken of; and concerning them and their utter extinction, the psalmist declares that not only do they die their breath goeth forth but their bodies crumble into dust returneth to his earth and even their very thoughts perish. They may have boasted loudly of what they would do have breathed out threatening and slaughter; but death comes, and in that very day their thoughts perish. Now, in considering this declaration, let us
I EXPLAIN ITS MEANING.
1. It tells of mens thoughts. Thoughts are the rulers and real governors of men. The power of thought is man"s noblest faculty, and its results are more far-reaching than that of all his other powers. By it he is distinguished from, and raised above, all the rest of the creation of God; and upon the use of this faculty depend his character and condition now, and his eternal destiny beyond the grave.
2. But it is said that mens thoughts perish. This is not true of all thoughts of men, for many of them do not perish, but live with a vigour and vitality, after the death of him in whom they originated, far greater than ever they possessed during his lifetime. And this has to be said even of many of those thoughts which it were well for men that they should perish; for embodied in books, imprinted on the hearts and nature of children, transmitted from one generation to another, it is all too plain that evil thoughts may live on, and work wide mischief, though the men whose minds first conceived them have long passed away. Happy would it have been for us if their thoughts had perished with them; but they have not, and in a very real and awful sense, "he that is unholy is unholy still, and he that is filthy is filthy still." And assuredly good thoughts do not perish. What is the Bible, but the record of holy and precious thoughts, which have by no means perished, and which are fruitful of good now, perhaps, more than at any previous period since they were given to the minds of the holy men of old who spake or wrote them down? And what do we not owe to the recorded or remembered thoughts of good men now no more? How the deep convictions of such men, expressed not only in words, but in their lives, have influenced those who have come after them, even to many generations! It is, therefore, certain that all men"s thoughts do not perish in that very day on which they die. But our text is true of all unembodied thoughts. Like as it was needful for God to become incarnate if men were to fully know him, or, indeed, to know him at all, so those spiritual product of our minds our thoughts must take form and substance, body and shape, if they are to have any influence upon ourselves or others. And they do this in many ways. They are seen in character. "As a man thinketh, so is he;" so that we can reason back from a man"s character to the nature of his thoughts. And in the character of others. Now, a man"s children reveal not seldom what he is; what his main thoughts have been are shown by the impress they have left on them, and this both for good and evil. And they are heard or read in his words in a man"s letters, or books, or discourse and thus their influence is made permanent. And in deeds. These stereotype thought, and make for it an abiding power. Now, such thoughts do not perish with a man"s earthly life; they continue, and often increase in power. But all other thoughts perish all such as are merely thoughts, and have never been embodied in character, or word, or deed. And there are a vast number of these. Mere purposes and intentions that remain such. The psalmist is comforting himself with the reflection that the wild, cruel purposes of the foes of God"s people will all come to naught when those who have formed them die. And for the blessing of the Church of God, what a host of these thoughts have perished! And so, too, with good intentions, if they are not acted on. The road to hell is paved with such. Death comes, and "in that very day," etc.
II ILLUSTRATE ITS TRUTH. The endeavors against Israel in Egypt. The destruction of Sennacherib. Haman"s wrath and discomfiture. Deliverances of the Church in the age of the martyrs, through the death of persecuting emperors. Destruction of the Armada, etc. And there have been illustrations also on the side of those who had cherished good purposes, but put off fulfilling them. Felix, who said to St. Paul, "Go thy way, and at a more convenient season," etc. Herod, who heard John the Baptist gladly, but ended by putting him to death. And the sad but large army of the waverers and unready ones, who are found in every rank and order of society, in the Church and in the world, in public positions and in such as are obscure. All these furnish proof and illustration of our text. And there was that rich fool to whom God said, "This night thy soul shall be required of thee," etc. (Luk_12:16, etc.)
III POINT OUT ITS LESSONS. They are such as these:
1. Of thankfulness; that God so puts an end to the evil purposes of evil men.
2. Of diligence. "What thy hand findeth to do," etc. Have done with the halting, wavering, fruitless thinkings, and do what God would have thee do; and at once, lest thy thoughts perish with thee.
3. Seek to have thy mind filled with thoughts that will not perish, but that shall live and bless thee and many more besides.
4. Commit thine heart into Gods keeping; "for out of it are the issues of life.
5. By surrender to Christ hasten the day when all thine evil thoughts shall perish from out of thy mind, and Christ"s thoughts shall take their place. S.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to…
Ver. 4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth. His breath goes from his body, and his body goes to the grave. His spirit goes one way, and his body another. High as he stood, the want of a little air brings him down to the ground, and lays him under it. Man who comes from the earth returns to the earth: it is the mother and sister of his body, and he must needs lie among Ins kindred as soon as the spirit which was his life has made its exit. There is a spirit in man, and when that goes the man goes. The spirit returns to God who gave it, and the flesh to the dust out of which it was fashioned. This is a poor creature to trust in: a dying creature, a corrupting creature. Those hopes will surely fall to the ground which are built upon men who so soon lie under ground.
In that very day his thoughts perish. Whatever he may have proposed to do, the proposal ends in smoke. He cannot think, and what he had thought of cannot effect itself, and therefore it dies. Now that he is gone, men are ready enough to let his thoughts go with him into oblivion; another thinker comes, and turns the thoughts of his predecessor to ridicule. It is a pitiful thing to be waiting upon princes or upon any other men, in the hope that they will think of us. In an hour they are gone, and where are their schemes for our promotion? A day has ended their thoughts by ending them; and our trusts have perished, for their thoughts have perished. Men's ambitions, expectations, declarations, and boastings all vanish into thin air when the breath of life vanishes from their bodies. This is the narrow estate of man: his breath, his earth, and his thoughts; and this is his threefold climax therein, his breath goeth forth, to his earth he returns, and his thoughts perish. Is this a being to be relied upon? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. To trust it would be a still greater vanity.
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Ver. 4. He returneth to his earth. The earththe dustis "his." 1. It is "his" as that from which he was made: he turns back to what he was, Ge 3:19. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 2. The earththe dustthe grave is "his", and it is his homethe place where he will abide. 3. It is "his" as it is the only property which he has in reversion. All that a mana prince, a nobleman, a monarch, a millionairewill soon have will be his grave, his few feet of earth. That will be his by light of possession, by the fact that for the time being he will occupy it, and not another man! But that, too, may soon become another man's grave, so that even there he is a tenant only for a time; he has no permanent possession even of a grave. Albert Barnes.
Ver. 4. His breath goeth forth. There is the death's head, the mortality of man indeed, that a breath is as much as his being is worth. Our soul, that spiraculum vitarum (breath of lives), the Lord inspired it, not into Adam's eye, or ear, or mouth, but into his nostrils, which may show to man his imbecility, cujus anima in naribus, whose soul is in his nostrils, and depends upon a breath, as it were; for the very soul must away if but breath expires; soul and breath go forth together.
Now hear this, all ye people, ponder it high and low; your castle is built upon the very air, the subsistence is in your nostrils, in a breath that is gone in the twinkling of an eye. Wherefore David maketh a question, saying, "Lord, what is man?" He answereth himself also: "Man is a vanishing shadow" (Ps 144:3-4), a shadow of smoke, or the dream of a shadow rather, as the poet speaketh. Blessed therefore are the poor in spirit; this advantage have all afflicted ones, that they have checks enough to call them home, and make them see they be but men. The curtain of honour, profit, or pleasure, hard it is and rare to draw aside when it is spread over us: "man in honour understandeth not" (Ps 49:20). To great ones therefore be it spoken; the Psalm intends it of very princes: "His breath goeth forth."
See we now the continuity, exit, "it goeth" as if it were now presently in its passage: showing this, that Homo vivens continue moritur, that life is a continued death; our candle lightens, consumes, and dies: as in the passing of an hourglass, every minute some sand faileth, and the glass once turned, no creature can intreat the sands to stay, but they continue to fall till all are gone: so is our life, it shortens and dies every minute, and we cannot beg a minute of time back, and that which we call death is but the termination, or consummation of it. Thomas Williamson; in a Sermon, entitled, "A Comfortable Meditation of Humane Frailtie and Divine Mercie", 1630.
Ver. 4. The primary idea of breath and the secondary one of spirit run into each other in the usage of the Hebrew word xwr, so that either may be expressed in the translation without entirely excluding the other. Joseph Addison Alexander.
Ver. 4. His breath (or spirit) goeth forth. Now I come to the liberty of the spirit, that it recedes inviolate; 1. In Act; "it goeth": 2. In Essence; "it goeth forth."
1. Our spirit is free in the act; it is not snatched, as it were; "it goeth." A soul in life sealed to eternity by the first fruits of the Spirit hath its good issue, its free passing, its hopes even in death; for let this breath fade, fidelis Deus, God who cannot lie, will stand nigh us in that exigency, and begin to help where man leaveth. The Holy Spirit, whose name is the Comforter, will not omit and leave off his own act or office in the great needs of death. Hence good Hilarion, having served the Lord Christ seventy years, checks his soul that it was so loath at the last to go forth, saying, Egredere, O anima mea, egredere, "Go forth, my soul, go forth." Devout Simeon sues for a manumission: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word." The spirit goeth forth; it passes freely; because it taketh up or embraces the cross of Christ, as he commandeth us to do. But is the act at our will and liberty? Not simply. We may not projicere animam, thrust or cast forth our breath or spirit; spiritus exit, it goeth forth. Strive, we must, to cast the world out of us; we may not cast ourselves out of the world. Saint Paul dares not dissolve himself, though he could wish to be dissolved: God must part that which he joins; God giveth, and God taketh away; and if God say, as he doth to Lazarus, Exi foras, Come forth; with faithful Stephen we must resign our spirit and all into his hands. When God biddeth us yoke, he is the wisest man that yieldeth his neck most willingly. When our great Captain recalls us, we must take the retreat in good part. But it is heathenish to force out the soul; for when the misdeeming flesh, amidst our disasters, will not listen with patience for God's call, but rather shake off the thought of divine providence quite, then are we ready to curse God and die, and that is probably to leap e fumo in flammam, out of the sin of self murder into hell. No, but God will have our spirits to pass forth upon good terms. Spiritus exit, "the spirit goeth forth."
2. Secondly, the spirit goeth free or inviolate in essence; death is not the end, but the outgoing of the soul, a transmigration or journey from one place to another. "It goeth forth"; so the character of our weakness we see in the issue; it is an argument of our eternity; for man indeed is perishing, but so is not his spirit. The phoenix goes forth or out of his ashes, "the spirit returneth to God who gave it" (Ec 12:7); that is, it abides still; and as in the body it pleased God to inclose the soul for a season, so it may as well exist elsewhere without it, if God will; for it hath no rise at all from the clay, yea, it bears in it immortality, an image of that breast whence it is breathed. The separate and very abstract acts of the spirit, even while it is in the body, the wondrous visions of the Lord to his prophets, usually when their bodies were bound up in sleep; Saint Paul's rapture when he knew not whether he was in the body or out of it; the admirable inventions and arts of men, manifest the soul's self consisting. Not Socrates, and Cato, and the civilised heathen only, but the very savages believe this, and so entertain death, ut exitum, non ut exitium, as a dissolution, not as a destruction: spiritus exit, "his spirit goeth forth." Thomas Williamson.
Ver. 4. His breath goeth forth, etc. The Hebrew gives the idea not that the spirit, but the mortal part of man will return to the dust. "His soul (fem. xwr) goeth forth", i.e., returneth to God; "returneth he (masc. bv) to his earth." As in Ec 12:7: "He" is the mortal man of clay, but "his breath" (soul) is the real immortal man. Simon de Muis.
Ver. 4. He returneth to his earth. Returning, in its proper notion, is a going back to that place from whence we came, so that in this clause here is a threefold truth, implied, expressed, inferred.
1. That which is implied in this phrase of returning is, that man in respect of his body came from the earth; and as it is here implied, so it is expressed concerning the first man by Moses (Ge 2:7). "The Lord God formed man" (that is, the body of man) "of the dust"; or according to the Hebrew "dust of the ground"; and by St. Paul (1Co 15:47), where he saith, "The first man is of the earth, earthy." True it is, we are formed in our mother's womb; but yet inasmuch as we all came from the first man, we are truly said to come from the earth; only with this difference, that he immediately, we mediately are framed out of the earth. This truth was engraven in full characters upon the name of the first man, who is called Adam, from a word that signifieth red earth, and that very word is here used, perhaps to mind us of that earth whereof man was first made; yea, according to the usual etymology, the name homo, which in the Latin is a common name to both sexes, is derived ab humo, from the ground. For this reason it is that the earth is called by the poet magna parens, the great parent of all mankind, and in the answer of the Oracle, our mother; and in this respect we are said by Eliphaz "to dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust", Job 4:19.
2. That which is expressed is, that man (when he dieth) returneth to the earth, pantez luomenoi koniz esmen saith the poet, "We are all dust when dissolved." As the white snow when melted is black water; so flesh and blood when bereaved of the soul become dust and ashes: in which respect St. Paul giveth this epithet of "vile" to our bodies. Php 3:21. Indeed, man's original being from the earth, he had a natural propensity to earth; according to the maxim, Omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum, "Everything hath an aptitude of returning to the principle whence it cometh"; but yet had he not turned away from God he had never actually returned thither. It is sin which hath brought upon man a necessity of dying, and that dying brings a necessity of returning to the earth: in which respect it is observable, that the threat, "thou shalt die the death" (Ge 2:17), which was denounced against man before his fall, being afterwards renewed (Ge 3:19), is explained (as to temporal death) by these words, "to dust thou shalt return"; so that now the motion of the little world man is like that of the great, Circulare ab eodem puncto ad idem, from the same to the same; and that as in his soul from God to God, so in his body from the earth to the earth. The rivers come from the sea, and they return thither. The sun ariseth out of the east, and thither it returneth. Man is formed of the earth, and into earth he is again transformed: with which agreeth that of the poet Lucretius:
Cedit item retro de terra quod fuit ante.
3. That which is inferred in the emphatic pronoun "his", which is annexed to the noun "earth", is that the earth to which man returneth is his; this being that which ariseth out of both the former conclusions; since it is therefore his earth because he cometh from and returneth to it. Earth is man's Genesis and Analysis, his composition and resolution, his Alpha and Omega, his first and last; Ortus pulvis, finis cinis; earth is his both originally and finally. So that our bodies can challenge no alliance with, or property in anything so much as earth. For if we call those things ours which had only an external relation to us, as our friends, our horses, our goods, our lands; much more may we call that our earth whereof we are made and into which we shall moulder; no wonder it is here said to be "his"; so elsewhere he is said to be earth, as being called by that name. Nathanael Hardy, in a Funeral Sermon entitled, "Man's Last Journey to his Long Home", 1659.
Ver. 4. In that very day his thoughts perish. The thoughts which the Psalmist here, no doubt, especially intends are those purposes which are in the minds of great men of doing good to those who are under, and depend upon them. The Hebrew word here used is derived from a verb that signifieth to be bright: cogitationes serenae, those candid, serene, benign, benevolent thoughts which they have of advancing their allies, friends and followers. These thoughts are said to "perish" in "that day" wherein they are conceived; so Tremellius glosses. In which sense the instability of great men's favour is asserted, whose smiles are quickly changed into frowns, love into hatred, and so in a moment their mind being changed, their well wishing thoughts vanish. But more rationally, "their thoughts perish in that day" wherein their persons die, because there is no opportunity of putting their purposes into execution. They perish like the child which comes to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth; or like the fruit which is plucked off before it be ripe. Whilst they live we may be deceived in our expectations by the alteration of their minds; but, however, their condition is mortal, and when that great change by death comes, their designs (how well so ever meant) must want success.
From hence it followeth, which is by some looked upon as a part of the meaning of the words, that the thoughts or hopes of them who trust in them perish. It is a true apothegm, Major pars hominum expectundo moritur; the greatest part of men perish by expectation. And good reason, inasmuch as their expectation, being misplaced, perisheth. How strongly this argument serveth to press the Psalmist's caution against confidence in man, though never so great, is obvious. It is true, princes and nobles being invested with honour, wealth and authority, have power in their hands, and perhaps they may have thoughts in their hearts to do thee good; but, alas, how uncertain is the execution of those intentions, and therefore how foolish is it to depend upon them. "Trust in the Lord Jehovah" (saith the prophet), "for with him is everlasting strength." Aye, and with him is unchangeable goodness. It is safe building upon the rock, trusting upon God, whose thoughts of mercy are (like himself) from everlasting to everlasting; but nothing is more foolish than to build on the sand, trust to men, whose persons, together with their thoughts, perish in a moment. Therefore let our resolution be that of David: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man; it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes", Ps 118:8-9. Nathanael Hardy.
Ver. 4. In that very day his thoughts perish. At death a man sees all those thoughts which were not spent upon God to be fruitless. All worldly, vain thoughts, in the day of death perish and come to nothing. What good will the whole globe of the world do at such a time? Those who have revelled out their thoughts in impertinences will but be the more disquieted; it will cut them to the heart to think how they have spun a fool's thread. A Scythian captain having, for a draught of water, yielded up a city, cried out: "What have I lost? What have I betrayed?" So will it be with that man when he comes to die, who hath spent all his meditations upon the world; he will say, What have I lost? What have I betrayed? I have lost heaven, I have betrayed my soul. Should not the consideration of this fix our minds upon the thoughts of God and glory? All other meditations are fruitless; like a piece of ground which hath much cost laid out upon it, but it yields no crop. Thomas Watson.
Ver. 4. I would have you take this passage and illustrate it as applying to purposes, projects, and intentions. That, I think now, is precisely the idea intended to be conveyed. "In that very day his thoughts perish"; his purposes, his projectswhat he intended to do. These cherished thoughts are gone. My dear brethren, there is something here for us. You find many beautiful passages and instances in Scripture in which this idea is embodied and realised, sometimes with great beauty and poetic effect, in relation to the enemies of the church. "The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my hand shall destroy them; thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty waters." In that very day their thoughts perished "Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey? to every man a damsel or two? to Sisera a prey of divers colours of needlework? So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord." The sacred poet does not even suggest that they had perished; but feeling that it was a fact, only lifts up her heart to God. "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord." And so you will find in many parts of Scripture beautiful ideas like this concerning the purposes and intentions that were in men's hearts utterly "perishing" by God's just laying his hand upon themthe purposes that were in their hearts against the church. Thomas Binney.
Ver. 4. In that very day his thoughts perish. In the case of the rich fool (Lu 12:16, 20) his "thoughts" of building larger barns, and of many years of ease and prosperity, all his selfish and worldly schemes, "perished" in that self same night. John W. Haley, in "An Examination of the Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible", 1875.
Ver. 4. His thoughts perish. The science, the philosophy, the statesmanship of one age is exploded in the next. The men who are the masters of the world's intellect today are discrowned tomorrow. In this age of restless and rapid change they may survive their own thoughts; their thoughts do not survive them. J.J. Stewart Perowne.
Ver. 4. His thoughts perish. As the purposes of all about worldly things perish in the approaches of death, so do the purposes of some about spiritual and heavenly things. How many have had purposes to repent, to amend their lives and turn to God, which have been prevented and totally broken off by the extremity of pain and sickness, but chiefly by the stroke of death when they have (as they thought) "been about to repent", and (as we say) "turn over a new leaf" in their lives; they have been turned into the grave by death, and into hell by the just wrath of God. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 4. His thoughts. Rather, "his false deceitful show"; literally, "his glitterings." Samuel Horsley, 1733-1806.
Ver. 4. To trust man is to lean not on a pillar but on a little heap of dust. The proudest element in man is his thought. In the thoughts of his heart he is lifted up if nowhere else; but, behold, even his proudest thoughts, says the Psalmist, will be degraded and perish in that dust to which he will return. Poor, perishing pride! Who should trust it? Johannes Paulus Palanterius.
Ver. 4. Decease, Decay, Defeat.
Ver. 4. (second clause). The failure of man's projects, the disappearance of his philosophies, the disproving of his boastings.
Psalms 146:5*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth.
Psa_146:4-5
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth.
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The philosophy of death
The text refers to--
I. The destiny of all.
1. A special day--the day of death.
2. A striking view of death.
3. Mans last earthly home.
4. The cessation of mental activity.
II. The peculiar privileges and happiness of a certain description of character.
1. Sustained by the God of Jacob.
2. Expecting all good in and from God.
3. The blessedness of this character. (J. Burns, D. D.)
The mortality of human thought
I. All hypothetical thoughts are mortal. They are like the leaves of the forest, whilst some of them begin to wither and fall ere autumnal winds have touched them, they all fall dead at last. The heaps of dead leaves which the gardener every day in autumn sweeps up from the well-wooded swards under his care are emblems of these hypothetical thoughts. Do I undervalue such thoughts? No! Each of these rotting leaves had its charm and has its use. At first it quivered with life and sparkled in the sun; and its decay, no doubt, plays a useful part in the economy of nature. Hypothetical thoughts! Do not despise them. Who can tell the quickening impulses, the beneficent sciences and arts that have come out of them, and will come again? Albeit they must all perish as they touch reality. As the grandest billow, when it breaks on the rocky shore, falls to pieces, so the most majestic hypotheses of men are wrecked as the mind touches the stern realities of eternity.
II. All sensuous thoughts are mortal. In the Scriptures we read of the fleshly mind, fleshly wisdom, and of those who judge after the flesh. How much of human thought is started, shaped, and swayed by the senses! Their springs of movement are in the senses. Their horizon is bounded by the sensuous. Now, such thoughts are mortal. They must perish. They are dying by millions every moment, and they must all die at death. In that very day his thoughts perish.
III. All mercenary thoughts are mortal. I mean those thoughts that are taken up with the question, What shall I eat, what shall I drink, and wherewithal shall I be clothed? Thoughts that are concerned entirely with mans material interest in this world, and are limited entirely to time. The worldly schemes and plans of men are all perishing and perishable. Were all the wrecked purposes of all the business men in London for one day fully registered, we could almost say the world itself would not contain the books. (David Thomas, D. D.)
Lost thoughts
At death a man sees all those thoughts which were not spent upon God to be fruitless. A Scythian captain having, for a draught of water, yielded up a city, cried out, What have I lost? What have I betrayed? So will it be with that man when he comes to die who hath spent all his meditations upon the world; he will say, What have I lost? What have I betrayed? I have lost heaven, I have betrayed my soul. Should not the consideration of this fix our minds upon the thoughts of God and glory? All other meditations are fruitless; like a piece of ground which hath much cost laid out upon it, but it yields no crop. (I. Watson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.