Psalms 90:6

6 In the morning it blossoms and sprouts anew; by evening it withers and dries up.

Psalms 90:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 90:6

In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up
That is, the grass, through the dew that lay all night on it, and by the clear shining of the sun after rain, when it appears in great beauty and verdure; so man in the morning of his youth looks gay and beautiful, grows in the stature and strength of his body, and in the endowments of his mind; and it may be also in riches and wealth; it is well if he grows in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ:

in the evening it is cut down, and withereth;
the Targum adds, "through heat"; but it cannot be by the heat of the sun, when it is cut down at evening; but it withers in course, being cut down. This respects the latter part of life, the evening of old age; and the whole expresses the shortness of life, which is compared to grass, that now is in all its beauty and glory, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, ( Matthew 6:30 ) . This metaphor of grass, to set forth the frailty of man, and his short continuance, is frequently used; see ( Psalms 37:2 ) ( 102:11 ) ( Isaiah 40:6-8 ) ( 1 Peter 1:24 ) . It may be observed, that man's life is represented but as one day, consisting of a morning and an evening, which signifies the bloom and decline of life.

Psalms 90:6 In-Context

4 For a thousand years in your eyes [are] like yesterday when it passes, or [like] a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away [like a flood]. They fall asleep. In the morning [they are] like grass [that] sprouts anew.

6 In the morning it blossoms and sprouts anew; by evening it withers and dries up.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger, and we hasten [off] by your wrath.

8 You have put our iniquities before you, our hidden [sins] into the light of your countenance.