Psalm 102:11

Modern

My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

Traditional

My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

Literal

My days are like a shadow stretching out; and I, like the grass, wither away.

Latin

Dies mei sicut umbra declinaverunt, et ego sicut fœnum arui.

Hebrew

English

My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

The psalmist feels that life is empty and short (Psalms 102:4; 109:23; 144:4).

A weak and suffering person prays for the Lord's mercy on Jerusalem and for his presence with its people.

Theme notes and profiles

Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
Psalm 109:23
I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
Psalm 144:4
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Isaiah 40:6–8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James 1:10
But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
Psalm 102:3–4
For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
Psalm 39:5–6
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
Ecclesiastes 6:12
For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?