Psaume 102:4

4 Mon coeur est frappé et se dessèche comme l'herbe; J'oublie même de manger mon pain.

Psaume 102:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 102:4

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass
Like grass in the summer solstice ^F4, which being smitten with the heat of the sun, or by some blast of thunder and lightning, is dried up, and withers away; so his heart was smitten with a sense of sin, and of God's wrath and displeasure at him, and with the heat of affliction and trouble, that it failed him, and he could not look up with joy and comfort:

so that I forget to eat my bread;
sometimes, through grief and trouble, persons refuse to eat bread, as Jonathan and Ahab, which is a voluntary act, and purposely done; but here, in the psalmist, there was such a loss of appetite, through sorrow, that he forgot his stated meals, having no manner of inclination to food: some understand this of spiritual food, the bread of life, refusing to be comforted with it; so the Targum,

``for I forgot the law of my doctrine.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 "Quasi solstitialis herba paulisper fui", Plauti Pseudolus, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 36.

Psaume 102:4 In-Context

2 Ne me cache pas ta face au jour de ma détresse! Incline vers moi ton oreille quand je crie! Hâte-toi de m'exaucer!

3 Car mes jours s'évanouissent en fumée, Et mes os sont enflammés comme un tison.

4 Mon coeur est frappé et se dessèche comme l'herbe; J'oublie même de manger mon pain.

5 Mes gémissements sont tels Que mes os s'attachent à ma chair.

6 Je ressemble au pélican du désert, Je suis comme le chat-huant des ruines;