My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
The psalm is expressly written for the afflicted. It is associated with the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives in the Babylonian captivity. The verse portrays a heart stricken and withered like grass under deep distress, expressing human frailty. The days pass like a declining shadow, and there is loneliness like a bird alone on a rooftop. In such distress the sufferer loses appetite and forgets to eat his bread.
Deep mental distress acts upon the body, smiting and withering the heart and causing it to decline. Worry and discontent make the flesh waste away, and this experience is not confined to one person. Groaning wears down the flesh with the wasting of the body. Yet such anguish does not mean the sufferer is beyond God's care, for even the lonely sparrow on the housetop is remembered and tenderly cared for. The psalm mingles affliction with encouragement, assurance of divine help, and hope of final deliverance from persecutors.
The verse is part of a plea for mercy that every true believer may adopt as his own. It prompts prayer for a closer walk with God, for strength, and for guidance to obey the Holy Spirit. The forgetting to eat is illustrated by being so overwhelmed by conviction and horror over sin that one forgets to eat.
The psalm is expressly written for the afflicted. It is associated with the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives in the Babylonian captivity. The verse portrays a heart stricken and withered like grass under deep distress, expressing human frailty. The days pass like a declining shadow, and there is loneliness like a bird alone on a rooftop. In such distress the sufferer loses appetite and forgets to eat his bread.
Deep mental distress acts upon the body, smiting and withering the heart and causing it to decline. Worry and discontent make the flesh waste away, and this experience is not confined to one person. Groaning wears down the flesh with the wasting of the body. Yet such anguish does not mean the sufferer is beyond God's care, for even the lonely sparrow on the housetop is remembered and tenderly cared for. The psalm mingles affliction with encouragement, assurance of divine help, and hope of final deliverance from persecutors.
The verse is part of a plea for mercy that every true believer may adopt as his own. It prompts prayer for a closer walk with God, for strength, and for guidance to obey the Holy Spirit. The forgetting to eat is illustrated by being so overwhelmed by conviction and horror over sin that one forgets to eat.