The Meaning of Psalms 78:33 Explained

Psalms 78:33

KJV: Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.

YLT: And He consumeth in vanity their days, And their years in trouble.

Darby: And he consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror.

ASV: Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, And their years in terror.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore their days  did he consume  in vanity,  and their years  in trouble. 

What does Psalms 78:33 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 78:25-37 - Blessed Yet Ungrateful
God our Father is prepared to do "exceeding abundantly" for His children; but too often we become so engrossed with His gifts as to forget and neglect the Giver. We allow ourselves enjoyment to point of satiety; and then, by an inevitable revulsion, we begin to suffer. Always acknowledge God while enjoying His gifts. Do not separate the gifts of His grace and those of His providence. All good and perfect gifts are from Him, and are to be received with equal thanksgiving. Do not use them in excess, but in moderation; and let not the enjoyment of their sweetness be your main object, but that you may be fitted to play your part and do your work in the world.
It must greatly wound the love of God that we need to be placed on short rations in order to bring us back to Himself. But how true is Psalms 78:34 of us all! We sadly require to have the stedfast heart, and to be faithful to our side of the Covenant, for we must all confess to the sin of fickleness and changeableness in our religious life. Our constant prayer should be that of Psalms 51:10, Renew a stedfast spirit within me. But how can this be ours, except by the dwelling and uprising within us of the life of God? [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 78

1  An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9  The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67  The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David

What do the individual words in Psalms 78:33 mean?

Therefore He consumed in futility their days and their years in fear
וַיְכַל־ בַּהֶ֥בֶל יְמֵיהֶ֑ם וּ֝שְׁנוֹתָ֗ם בַּבֶּהָלָֽה

וַיְכַל־  Therefore  He  consumed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
בַּהֶ֥בֶל  in  futility 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.
יְמֵיהֶ֑ם  their  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
וּ֝שְׁנוֹתָ֗ם  and  their  years 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
בַּבֶּהָלָֽה  in  fear 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: בֶּהָלָה  
Sense: dismay, sudden terror or ruin, alarm.