Psalm 106:15

15 So he gave to them their request, but he sent leanness into their souls.

Psalm 106:15 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 106:15

And he gave them their request
Flesh and feathered fowl in great abundance; see ( Psalms 78:27-29 ) . So God sometimes gives to wicked men what they ask for, as much as they can desire, yea, more than heart could wish.

But sent leanness into their soul:
or "body"; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, read, "he sent fulness into their souls"; he gave them flesh to the full, even to a nausea; they fed too heartily on it, and were surfeited with it; which not being digested brought a repletion, and issued in a consumption; or rather death, immediate death, is meant, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, interpret it; for while the flesh was in their mouths, and they were chewing it between their teeth, the wrath of God came upon them and slew them, ( Numbers 11:33 ) ( Psalms 78:29 Psalms 78:30 ) . It is true in a spiritual sense, that while the bodies of wicked men are fed and pampered, their souls are starved, and at last eternally lost; as the rich man's in the Gospel, who fared sumptuously every day: and worldly professors are very lean ones; such who mind earth and earthly things never thrive in spirituals; and either they soon drop their profession, err from the faith, and turn apostates; or, if they continue, the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word; so that it is unprofitable to them, not being mixed with faith by them; and hence leanness under the best of means: yea, there is sometimes a leanness in the souls of the people of God, when corruptions prevail, the graces of the spirit are low in exercise; when there is a want of a spiritual appetite to the word; and when they fall into bad company, or do not improve conversation with one another in a spiritual way; or are too much taken up, ensnared, and entangled with the things of the world; see ( Isaiah 24:16 ) .

Psalm 106:15 In-Context

13 They quickly forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

14 And they {craved intensely} in the wilderness, and tested God in [the] desert.

15 So he gave to them their request, but he sent leanness into their souls.

16 And they were jealous of Moses in the camp, [and] of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh.

17 [The] earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and it covered over the gang of Abiram.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew "soul" or "inner self"