As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth
Psalm 103 has been singing of God's mercy and a father's pity; now it turns to the man who receives it, whose life is as short as grass. Why does a song of blessing stop on something so bleak, and what is left when the flower is gone?
One writer notes that the flower, the finest part of the plant, is the first thing to go.
L M GrantWe do not think about it seriously enough. Still, man's days are like grass, and even the most outstanding of men are like the flower of grass. The flower fades even before the grass withers away. The winds of circumstance pass over it, "and it is gone." If he thinks he is strong while he is young, yet what of old age? "The longest life is short, fading almost before it has begun." Usually too, man is soon forgotten: "its place remembers it no more" (v. 16).
The verse turns to man's short life right after speaking of God's pity. That frailty is not an accusation. It is the ground of His pity, and it belongs to His ordering of things.
F. W. GrantThen we are assured of the fountain of infinite pity in Him who remembers that we are only dust. Yet it is under His government that man's days find their image in the flower of the field. If the wind passes hard over that flower, it is gone forever out of its place.
Job used the same picture, and one writer sets the two passages side by side.
Samuel RidoutThis is poetic, and true from man's point of view: "he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more." It is the funeral song of human existence since sin brought in death. "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him" (Ps. 103:15-18). Ah, Job sees only the dark side, for though he turns to God as he does here, it is not of mercy but of wrath that he speaks.
One writer sent these words to someone who was ill. He treats a broken season of life as gain, not loss.
J. N. DarbyHe makes no mistakes, and there is nothing that escapes His eye and hand. "He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous" — what a mercy! ... the course of life is broken for you for the moment. Even if you recover strength, as I trust you may, and rejoice in God's present goodness, the experience will still have been there. It will give a tone to life, and that is a great gain. "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him."
The same picture raises a practical question: where can trust rest?
William KellyHuman nature is fallen, and in it there is no stability. Its flower is short-lived and nothing more. The grass withered, the flower fell away. There can be no trust, no dependence on the creature. ... If human nature at its best is feeble and failing, man needs what abides; and so, in contrast with that which fades away, "the word of the Lord (Jehovah) abides for ever."
- Grass — A human life lasts one season. Its finest part, the flower, fades before the grass does, and a man's place soon forgets him.
- Dust — God has not overlooked this. He remembers our frailty, and it is the very ground of His pity.
- Wind — One rough gust and the flower is gone from its place; nothing in the creature is stable enough to lean on.
- Contrast — Job said these same words and heard only a funeral song. The psalm says them, then turns to a mercy that lasts from everlasting to everlasting.
- Abides — Because man needs what lasts, the answer to a fading flower is the word of the Lord, which endures forever.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof knoweth it no more.
Psalm 103 has just described a God who forgives, heals, and pities like a father. Then it looks at the creature He pities and calls him grass. Verse 16 finishes the picture with a gust of wind — and raises the question of what, if anything, outlasts it.
The psalm picks the most short-lived thing on the field.
L M GrantThough we do not think about it seriously enough, man's days are like grass, and even the most outstanding of men are like the flower of grass. The flower fades even before the grass withers away. The winds of circumstance pass over it, "and it is gone." If he thinks he is strong while he is young, what about old age? "The longest life is short, fading before it has scarcely begun." Generally too, man is soon forgotten: "its place remembers it no more" (v. 16).
The withering is not random. One writer sets God's pity for dust beside God's rule over man's days.
Numerical Bible NotesThen we are assured of the fountain of infinite pity in Him who remembers that we are only dust. Yet it is under His government that man's days find their image in the flower of the field. If a rough wind passes over that flower, it is gone for ever out of its place.
Job says almost the same words in his own book. What follows them is different.
Samuel RidoutThis is poetic, and true as far as man's view goes: "the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more." It is the funeral song of human existence since sin brought in death. "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him" (Ps. 103:15-18). Job sees only the dark side. He does turn to God here, but he speaks of wrath and not of mercy.
Verse 17 opens with one word: "but." Where these writers quote it as "mercy," the ESV reads "steadfast love."
Hamilton SmithWeak man's beauty flourishes like a flower, and then a storm of wind withers it. In contrast, the "mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children." Neither the frailty of man nor the adverse wind of the enemy can change either "the mercy" or "righteousness" of the Lord.
Israel sings this psalm, and the nation had learned this truth the hard way. Isaiah said the same about a whole people, not just one person.
J. N. DarbyAs for man, he is as grass; and the people had been as grass and withered (Isa. 40). But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him, the obedient ones. So it all traces back to goodness, yet also to faithfulness, arising from the very nature and name of Jehovah.
If man is this fragile, who is the gospel for, and is there anything that lasts? One writer answers both questions.
H H SnellMan is not only sinful, unclean, and corrupt, but weak, and without continuance; for he passes away. Rich or poor, high or low, in this there is no difference... it is blessed to remember that Jesus died for weak and frail ones. Scripture says, "while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6). But while man fades like this, and his glory passes away so fast, is it not most blessed to know that God has given us something that endures? It is His own word, "which lives and remains for ever."
One commentator wrote to someone whose health had broken. He used this passage as comfort, not as gloom.
J. N. DarbyHe makes no mistakes, and there is nothing that escapes His eye and hand... The course of life is broken with you for the moment. Even if you recovered strength, as I trust you may, and rejoiced in God's present goodness, the experience will still have been there. It will give a tone to life, and that is a great gain.
- Grass. Man's days are like grass and his best glory like its flower — and the flower fades before the grass even withers.
- Wind. The gust that ends the flower is not chance. It belongs to God's government of man's days.
- But. Verse 17 turns everything. Neither man's frailty nor the enemy's wind can touch the mercy and righteousness of the Lord.
- Difference. Job spoke these same words and saw only wrath. The psalm speaks them and sees mercy.
- Comfort. Weak and frail people are the ones Christ died for. Even a broken course of life can leave a great gain behind.
But the loving-kindness of Jehovah is from everlasting and to everlasting, upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children,
Psalm 103 has just compared human life to a flower blown off its stalk. This verse answers with the one thing time cannot touch: the mercy of the LORD. So why does this mercy rest on one group, "those who fear him"? And what does it mean that His righteousness reaches children's children?
The verse opens with "But," and everything depends on that word. It turns from what man is to what God is.
Hamilton SmithWeak man's beauty flourishes like a flower, and then a storm of wind withers it. In contrast, "the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and His righteousness to children's children." Neither the frailty of man nor the enemy's hostile wind can change either "the mercy" or "righteousness" of the Lord.
A suffering heart can miss this contrast. Job is an example:
Samuel RidoutIt is the dirge of human existence since sin has brought in death. "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him" (Ps. 103:15-18). Job sees only the dark side. He turns to God here, but he speaks of wrath and not of mercy.
"From everlasting to everlasting" means more than a long stretch of time. This mercy reaches back before creation, so it does not depend on anything created. David learned that where his own life had failed.
G. V. WigramIn Psalm 103:17 there is a touch that shows how David had gained the divine taste of that mercy. It is tied to the character of God, from everlasting to everlasting, something belonging to God and of God. When God saw David unlike what His anointed one should be, He would deal with David. His flesh had come out, but God's mercy was from everlasting to everlasting. It stands apart from creation and above the world, a spring full of water in itself. David could wait on it. It humbled him, yet gave him a sure footing before God.
Because mercy is what God is, it never pauses while this world lasts.
Andrew MillerAll the pity, compassion, tenderness, kindness and charity that flows through this world of misery has its well-spring in Him. That is true of help for this life and of help for the soul. And this mercy, blessed be His name, is from everlasting and to everlasting. It had no beginning, before time began. When time is past, it will have no end… Meanwhile this world of sin is a narrow neck of land between a past and a future too great for us to take in. Across it mercy flows as a mighty river, and unites, as it were, the ocean of eternity.
The mercy is boundless, yet the psalm names those it rests on.
J. N. DarbyBut the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, the obedient ones. So it all comes from goodness, and yet from faithfulness too, from the very nature and name of Jehovah. But it comes to the obedient ones, the godly remnant.
This fear is not dread of a God who might turn on you. It grows out of forgiveness already received.
William KellyThe fear asked of the believer in this life fits with enjoying our Father's love. In fact the two always go together. "With you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared," says Psalm 130:4. So "Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments" (Ps. 112:1).
The second half of the verse adds His righteousness. It reaches down the generations, and the psalm links it to a covenant. That sounds like law until you ask which covenant is meant.
F. W. GrantThis should not sound legal: it is a principle that grace does not set aside — it would not in fact be grace to set it aside. Grace affirms and fulfils it… So the "covenant" here cannot be the covenant of law, which only "works wrath." It must be Abraham's covenant, the one that makes them true children of Abraham. That covenant was given four hundred and thirty years before the law came in. Faith links men with this covenant, whether Jew or Gentile. Those who keep it are the circumcised in heart.
The promise reaches generations still ahead, and commentators name the covenant behind it.
L. M. GrantHis mercy and His righteousness extend to "children's children" — indeed to many generations in the millennial age (v. 17)… This is not God's covenant of law. No one has kept it at all, or could keep it. It is the "new covenant."
The verse has long been handed to people whose own days felt like grass. Writing to someone seriously ill, one writer pressed it home this way:
J. N. DarbyHe makes no mistakes, and there is nothing that escapes His eye and His hand. "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him."
- Cause — Man withers like a flower in a field. The verse turns on "But," and everything solid stands on God's side of that word.
- Source — Mercy from everlasting is older than creation. Nothing in creation, not even David's failure, can dry it up.
- Condition — It rests on those who fear Him, a fear born of forgiveness, not of terror.
- Reach — His righteousness runs to children's children through the covenant of promise. Faith joins that covenant, whether Jew or Gentile.
- Result — What humbles you also holds you. The mercy that shows how frail you are is the ground you stand on at the end of your days.
To such as keep his covenant and to those that remember his precepts to do them.
The previous verse promises God's mercy to all who fear Him, and this verse tells us who they are. That raises a hard question: is mercy now a wage for obedience?
One writer sets short-lived man against the mercy that lasts, then points to the covenant behind it:
Hamilton SmithWeak man blooms like a flower, and then a storm of wind withers him. In contrast, "the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children." Neither the frailty of man nor the hostile wind of the enemy can change "the mercy" or the "righteousness" of the Lord. This mercy and righteousness is towards those who keep His covenant and do His commands. Is this not the unconditional covenant made with Abraham? Under that covenant the nation comes into blessing, and can at last keep the Lord's commands.
If this were the covenant of law, the verse would offer no hope, since the law only brings wrath. One commentator says the clause is not a legal condition but a principle grace keeps in place. That points back to the covenant made with Abraham:
Numerical Bible NotesThis should not sound legal: it is a principle that grace does not set aside — in fact it would not be grace to set it aside. Grace affirms and fulfils it; for "sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." So the "covenant" here cannot be the covenant of law, which only brings wrath. It must be Abraham's covenant, the one that makes them true children of Abraham. God gave it four hundred and thirty years before the law came in. Faith links people with this covenant, whether Jew or Gentile, and those who keep it are the circumcised in heart.
Commentators differ on which covenant is in view. Another writer reads it as the new covenant. He sees obedience as something God Himself produces inside the person:
L M GrantBut added to this is "to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments" (v. 18). This is not God's covenant of law. No one has kept that covenant at all, or could keep it. It is the "new covenant," in which God puts His law "within them" and writes it "on their hearts" (Jer. 31:33), so that in the millennium Israel will respond to God's commandments with joy. So man's weakness, when it depends only on the power and grace of God, will become true strength.
Both readings land in the same place: the covenant named here is one God guarantees, not one people must earn.
Psalm 103 opens a group of psalms that trace Israel's story. In that story grace comes first, and obedience grows out of it:
J. N. DarbyPsalms 103–106 give us the results — and the covenant — in grace and in responsibility, of Israel's history. Psalm 105 traces God's ways in grace, from Abraham up to the giving of the land. Psalm 106 is Israel acknowledging its own ways from first to last, yet still owning the Lord's mercy, and looking for it, for it endures for ever. Grace and favour are the one foundation on which hope can be built leading to obedience.
The verse does not only say "do"; it says remember to do. One writer applies that to Peter, who heard a solemn warning and still fell:
William J HockingPeter remembered the Lord's warning word when it was too late. After his denials he heard the rooster crow, and the sound brought back the Master's warning to him: "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know Me." We would have thought that anyone would keep such a solemn warning in mind, and guard against such a sin. But Peter did not, and some of us do not. We form the evil plan, speak the evil word, do the evil deed. Only then does the word we had read in Scripture come to convict us, and send us away weeping in shame, because we did not "remember to do His commandments."
- Mercy — the promise rests on God, not on us. No human frailty and no attack of the enemy can alter His mercy or His righteousness.
- Covenant — this cannot be the covenant of law. No one kept that, and it only brings wrath. It is a covenant God Himself guarantees — Abraham's, or the new covenant.
- Faith — faith links people to that covenant, Jew or Gentile alike, and those who keep it are circumcised in heart.
- Heart — God writes His law inside His people, so they can obey. Weakness that leans on Him turns into true strength.
- Memory — grace is the ground, and obedience grows from it. Obedience starts with remembering. Peter's fall shows what happens when the word comes back too late.