The Meaning of Psalms 78:39 Explained

Psalms 78:39

KJV: For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

YLT: And He remembereth that they are flesh, A wind going on -- and it returneth not.

Darby: And he remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away and cometh not again.

ASV: And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For he remembered  that they [were but] flesh;  a wind  that passeth away,  and cometh not again. 

What does Psalms 78:39 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 78:38-48 - "signs In Egypt"
God takes into account the frailty and infirmity of our natures. The Spirit"¦ helpeth our infirmities, Romans 8:26. In the words of Hosea, God teaches us "to go;" that is, He puts His hands under our armpits, that we may learn how to walk. In the process there are many failures, but He distinguishes between the willful breach of His commands, and the blunders that are due to the frailty of our natures. Being full of compassion, He forgives; He remembers that we are but flesh.
Let us not limit the Holy One, Psalms 78:41. He waits to do marvelous things for us and by us; but how often we confine His power within the narrow channel of our own little faith. We do not like to trouble Him too often. We say in effect that as He has done this, we can hardly expect Him to do the other. We bring a limited number of vessels to be filled with the sacred oil. We strike but three times on the ground, and not until the seventh time of perfection. He cannot do many mighty things for us because our unbelief. Let us quicken our souls to larger thoughts of God, by recounting, as in this paragraph, His wonders of old. [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 78:39 mean?

For He remembered that flesh they [were but] a breath that passes away and not does come again
וַ֭יִּזְכֹּר כִּי־ בָשָׂ֣ר הֵ֑מָּה ר֥וּחַ ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ וְלֹ֣א יָשֽׁוּב

וַ֭יִּזְכֹּר  For  He  remembered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
כִּי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
בָשָׂ֣ר  flesh 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּשָׂר  
Sense: flesh.
הֵ֑מָּה  they  [were  but] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person masculine plural
Root: הֵם 
Sense: they, these, the same, who.
ר֥וּחַ  a  breath 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ  that  passes  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
וְלֹ֣א  and  not 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
יָשֽׁוּב  does  come  again 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.