Psalms 31:12

12 I have faded from memory as if I were dead and have become like a piece of broken pottery.

Psalms 31:12 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 31:12

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind
Either by his friends, being out of sight, out of mind; as even the nearest relations and acquaintance are, in process of time, when dead, ( Ecclesiastes 9:5 ) ; or by the Lord; which shows the weakness of his faith, the uncomfortable frame he was in, through darkness and desertion; see ( Psalms 88:5 ) ( Isaiah 49:14-16 ) ;

I am like a broken vessel;
or a "perishing vessel" ^F3; or "a vessel of perdition" ^F4: the Septuagint version renders it "a lost vessel" ^F5; one entirely useless, wholly lost, and irrecoverably so; like a broken vessel, which can never be put together again, ( Isaiah 30:14 ) ( Jeremiah 19:11 ) ; a most sad apprehension he had of himself, as if his case was desperate, and he a vessel of wrath; compare with this, ( Romans 9:22 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (dba ylkk) "sicut vas periens", Montanus, Cocceius, Gejerus.
F4 So Ainsworth.
F5 V. L. Pagninus, Musculus, Piscator.

Psalms 31:12 In-Context

10 My life is exhausted from sorrow, my years from groaning. My strength staggers under [the weight of] my guilt, and my bones waste away.

11 I have become a disgrace because of all my opponents. I have become someone dreaded by my friends, even by my neighbors. Those who see me on the street run away from me.

12 I have faded from memory as if I were dead and have become like a piece of broken pottery.

13 I have heard the whispering of many people-- terror on every side-- while they made plans together against me. They were plotting to take my life.

14 I trust you, O LORD. I said, "You are my God."