Psalm 103:15-16

Psalm 103:15-16

Mortals are like grass

Sometimes we need to be reminded of our own mortality. After all the blessings and encouragements of the earlier verses of this Psalm it might be easy to get carried away and so we need to be reminded that life on earth has its boundaries for all humans. After all the years of inexhaustible energy and achievement, when no goal seemed unreachable and no task undo-able, we reach a stage in life where things start to slow down and the days cannot be entirely filled with restless energy. “We are all like grass”, says David, we flourish like flowers, but everyone knows that grass and flowers do not last for long. Their time and place pass very quickly, the winds blows and the flower heads are carried away and they are remembered no more. Isaiah 40:6-8 tells us that the wind here is the breath of the Lord. That same wind of His Spirit that gives life, eventually blows the spirit of man away! 

The temporary nature of human life is often mentioned in the Bible, maybe we need to keep this in view? Listen to some of these simple reminders: -

·      “You have made my days a mere handbreadth, the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.” Psalm 39:5

·      “Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all humanity.” Psalm 89:47

·      “For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.” Psalm 102:3

·      “I fade away like an evening shadow, I am shaken off like a locust.” Psalm 109:23

·      “For we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.” Job 8:9

·      “For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?” Ecclesiastes 6:12

Depressing? Maybe, but it is good for us to not think we are immortal and that life on earth has no end. We need perspective, the sad thing is that so many have no hope or anticipation for what lies beyond.

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