For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
The psalm is post-Davidic, presumably from the time of Hezekiah, and is connected with Sennacherib's invasion and the destruction of the Assyrian army. The word soul here means the person in distress, not an immaterial part of a person. Being bowed down to the dust with the belly clinging to the earth pictures extreme distress and humiliation, as if the life and whole being were pressed down into dust and earth.
It describes Israel brought low in a backslidden and persecuted condition. Though voicing such distress, the psalm points toward encouragement and hope, and its language of suffering is applied by Paul while declaring that God's people through Christ are more than conquerors.
The psalm is post-Davidic, presumably from the time of Hezekiah, and is connected with Sennacherib's invasion and the destruction of the Assyrian army. The word soul here means the person in distress, not an immaterial part of a person. Being bowed down to the dust with the belly clinging to the earth pictures extreme distress and humiliation, as if the life and whole being were pressed down into dust and earth.
It describes Israel brought low in a backslidden and persecuted condition. Though voicing such distress, the psalm points toward encouragement and hope, and its language of suffering is applied by Paul while declaring that God's people through Christ are more than conquerors.