How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
Parallel Translations
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How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
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How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
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(89-47) How long, O LORD, wilt Thou hide Thyself for ever? How long shall Thy wrath burn like fire?
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Psalms 89:46 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 79:5 How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
- Psalms 78:63 Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song.
- Psalms 88:14 Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?
- Psalms 90:13 Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
- Job 23:9 He works to the north, but I can’t see him. He turns south, but I can’t catch a glimpse of him.
- Psalms 10:1 Why do you stand far off, Yahweh? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
- Psalms 13:1-2 How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
- Psalms 85:5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you draw out your anger to all generations?
- Isaiah 8:17 I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
- Isaiah 45:15 Most certainly you are a God who has hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’ ”
- Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
- Jeremiah 21:12 House of David, Yahweh says, ‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
- Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8 punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
- Hebrews 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 46. How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself…
46. How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? After having poured forth his complaints respecting the sad and calamitous condition of the Church, the Psalmist now turns himself to prayer. Whence it follows that the language of lamentation to which he had hitherto given utterance, although it emanated from carnal sense, was nevertheless conjoined with faith. Unbelievers, in the agitation of trouble, may sometimes engage in prayer, yet whatever they ask proceeds from feigned lips. But the prophet, by connecting prayer with his complaints, bears testimony that he had never lost his confidence in the truth of the Divine promises. With respect to this manner of expression, How long, for ever? we have spoken on Psalm 79:5, where we have shown that it denotes a long and continued succession of calamities. Moreover, by asking How long God will hide himself, he tacitly intimates that all will be well as soon as God is pleased to look upon his chosen people with a benignant countenance. In the second clause of the verse, he again mentions as the reason why God did not vouchsafe to look upon them with paternal favor, that his anger was incensed against them. The obvious conclusion from which is, that all the afflictions endured by us proceed from our sins; these being the scourges of an offended God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The Prophet in joining prayer with his complaint, showeth…
The Prophet in joining prayer with his complaint, showeth that his faith never failed.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 89:46 How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself…
Psa 89:46 How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
Ver. 46. How long, Lord? &c.] Here faith prevaileth against flesh, and falleth a praying, and at length a praising God.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Remember how short my time is,.... In this world…
Remember how short my time is,.... In this world man's time here is fixed, and it is but a short time; his life is but a vapour, which appeareth for a little while; his days are as an hand's breadth; they pass away like a tale that is told; the common term of life is but threescore years and ten, and few arrive to that: to know and observe this is proper and useful; it may awaken a concern for a future state, excite to a vigorous discharge of duty, and animate to patience under afflictions: the clause in connection with the preceding verse seems to be a plea for mercy; that, since time was short, it might not be consumed in bearing the wrath of God; but be spent in peace and comfort, like that of Job 10:20, Compare with this Psa 103:13, the Targum is,
"remember that I am created out of the dust:''
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but these words, with what follow, are the words of the psalmist, representing the apostles of Christ, and other saints, at the time of his sufferings and death, and when under the power of the grave, and when they were almost out of hope of his resurrection: see Luk 24:21, expostulating with the Lord on that account; and here entreat him to remember the shortness of their time, if there was no resurrection from the dead, as there would be none if Christ rose not; and therefore, as their life was a short one, it would be of all men's the most miserable:
wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? none of the sons of men are made in vain; for they are all made for the glory of God, which end is answered, some way or another, in everyone of them; either in the salvation of them by Christ, or in the just destruction of them through their own sin; and though the time of life is short, and afflictions many, yet men are not made in vain, and especially those of them who believe in Christ; for, for them to live is Christ, they live to his glory: whether they live a longer or shorter time, they live to the Lord; and when they die, they die to him; and their afflictions are always for good, temporal, or spiritual, and eternal: indeed, if there was no future state after this, men might seem to be made in vain, and there might be some reason for such a question or complaint; but so it is not; there is an immortal life and state after this, either of bliss or woe: also, if there was no such thing as the redemption, justification, and salvation of any of the sons of men, through the sufferings and death of Christ, and which could not be without his resurrection from the dead, with a view to which the question is put, then there would seem some room for it; but there is a redemption of them, and therefore are not made in vain; and Christ, who was delivered for their offences, is risen for their justification.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 46. How long, Lord?] The promise cannot utterly…
Verse 46. How long, Lord?] The promise cannot utterly fail. When then, O Lord, wilt thou restore the kingdom to Israel?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain How long, Lord? - How long is this to…
How long, Lord? - How long is this to continue? Can it be that this is to continue always? Is there to be no change for the better? Are the promises which have been made, never to be fulfilled? Compare Psa 13:1, note; Psa 77:7-9, notes.
Wilt thou hide thyself for ever? - Thy favor. Wilt thou never come forth and manifest thyself as the Helper of those who trust in thee?
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Shall thy wrath burn like fire? - Fire which entirely consumes; fire which never ceases as long as there is anything to burn; fire which never puts itself out, but which wholly destroys that on which it preys.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 46. How long… for ever—The frequent lament and inquiry…
46. How long… for ever—The frequent lament and inquiry of the psalms of the captivity. Psa_74:1; Psa_74:9-10; Psa_75:5; Psa_85:5
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 46. How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for…
46. How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for ever?
(How long) shall thy wrath burn like fire?
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A repetition of Psa_79:5, with slight variations.
46–51. The Psalmist appeals to God to withdraw His wrath and remove this contradiction, pleading the shortness of life and the taunts of God’s enemies as grounds for a speedy answer.
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 (46) How long.—With this persistent cry of the Maccabæan…
(46) How long.—With this persistent cry of the Maccabæan age (see Psa_74:10), the poet shows that faith is not extinct, though it has a sore struggle with despair.
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 Vers. 46-51. The psalm ends with an appeal to…
Vers. 46-51. The psalm ends with an appeal to God long" is the present state of things to continue? How long is God"s wrath to endure? Will he not remember how weak and futile, how short-lived and fleeting, the whole race of man is? Well he not bethink him of his old loving kindnesses to David, and of the promises made to him, and confirmed by oath? Will he not therefore remove their reproach from Israel, and especially from his anointed, on whom the disgrace chiefly falls? To these questions there can be but one answer. God will assuredly make his faithfulness known (see ver. 1).
How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself forever; . (comp. Psa_13:1 Psa_74:10 Psa_79:5) Shall thy wrath burn like fire? i.e. furiously, without cessation, till all be consumed.
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. 46. How long, Lord? The appeal is to…
Ver. 46. How long, Lord? The appeal is to Jehovah, and the argument is the length of the affliction endured. Chastisement with a rod is not a lengthened matter, therefore he appeals to God to cut short the time of tribulation.
Wilt thou hide thyself for ever? Hast thou not promised to appear for thor servantwilt thou then for ever forsake him?
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Shall thy wrath burn like fire? Shall it go on and on evermore till it utterly consume its object? Be pleased to set a bound! How far wilt thou go? Wilt thou burn up the throne which thou hast sworn to perpetuate? Even thus we would entreat the Lord to remember the cause of Christ in these days. Can he be so angry with his church as to leave her much longer? How far will he suffer things to go? Shall truth die out, and saints exist no more? How long will he leave matters to take their course? Surely he must interpose soon, for, if he do not, true religion will be utterly consumed, as it were, with fire.
Ver. 46-47. This undoubtedly sounds like the voice of one who knows no hereafter. The Psalmist speaks as if all his hopes were bound by the grave; as if the overthrow of the united kingdom of Judah and Ephraim had bereft him of all his joy; and as if he knew no future kingdom to compensate him with its hopes. But it would be doing cruel injustice to take him thus at his word. What we hear is the language of passion, not of sedate conviction. This is well expressed by John Howe in a famous sermon. "The expostulation (he observes) was somewhat passionate, and did proceed upon the sudden view of this disconsolate case, very abstractly considered, and by itself only; and the Psalmist did not, at that instant, look beyond it to a better and more comfortable scene of things. An eye bleared with present sorrow sees not far, nor comprehends so much at one view, as it would at another time, or as it doth presently when the tear is wiped out and its own beams have cleared it up."
It would be unwarrantable, therefore, to infer from Ethan's expostulation, that the saints who lived under the early kings were strangers to the hope of everlasting life. I am inclined to go further, and to point to this very complaint as affording a presumption that there was in their hearts an irrepressible sentiment of immortality. The bird that frets and wounds itself on the bars of its cage shows thereby that its proper home is the free air. When inveterate sensuality has succeeded in quenching in a man's heart the hope of a life beyond the grave, the dreary void which succeeds utters itself, not in solemn complaints like Ethan's, but in songs of forced mirthdismal Anacreontic songs: "Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die."
"It is time to live if I grow old,
It is time short pleasures now to take,
Of little life the best to make,
And manage wisely the last stake."
(Anacreon's Age, as translated by Cowley.) William Binnie.
Ver. 46. Shall thy wrath burn like fire? An element that hath no mercy. William Nicholson.
Ver. 46. The hand of God is to be acknowledged.
1. In the nature of affliction. "Wilt thou hide thyself", etc.
2. In the duration of affliction. "How long, Lord?"
3. In the severity of affliction. Wrath burning like fire.
4. In the issue of affliction. How long? for ever? In all these respects the words are applicable both to Christ and to his people.
Ver. 46. Remember. The prayer of the dying thief, the troubled believer, the persecuted Christian.
Psalms 89:47*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself, forever?
How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself, forever?
The writer uses these questions to emphasize that he does not want God to continue to refuse the king. AT: "Please, Yahweh, do not refuse to help the king forever." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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Will you hide yourself
God not helping the king is spoken of as if God were hiding from him. AT: "Will you refuse to help the king" (See: Metaphor)
How long will your anger burn like fire?
The writer uses a question to emphasize that he does not want God to remain angry. AT: "Please do not continue being angry" (See: Rhetorical Question)
your anger burn like fire
God being very angry is spoken of as if his anger were a hot fire. (See: Simile)
for what uselessness you have created all the children of mankind
The abstract noun "uselessness" can be stated as "uselessly." AT: "that you have created all people to die uselessly" (See: Abstract Nouns)
the children of mankind
This refers to humans in general. AT: "humans" or "people" (See: When Masculine Words Include Women)
Who can live and not die, or rescue his own life from the hand of Sheol?
The writer uses these questions to emphasize that all people will die. AT: "No one can live forever or bring himself back to life after dying" (See: Rhetorical Question)
rescue his own life from the hand of Sheol
Here "hand" refers to power. The writer speaks of Sheol as if it were a person who has power over those who die. Possible meanings are 1) a person cannot bring himself back to life after dying or 2) a person cannot keep himself from dying. (See: Metonymy and Personification)
translationWords
Yahweh
anger
life
die
Hades
selah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 89:46-47 The psalmist wonders if he will live to…
89:46-47 The psalmist wonders if he will live to see the end of the Lord’s anger. Our lifetimes are short, like a day in the Lord’s sight (90:4, 10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.