“For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” (Psalm 103:16 NKJV)
“Then all of a sudden we’re gone, like grass clippings blown away in a gust of wind, taken away to our appointment with death, leaving nothing to show that we were here.” (Psalm 103:16 TPT)
“The wind blows, and we are gone – as though we had never been here.” (Psalm 103:16 NLT)
“For the wind passes over it and it is no more, and its place knows it no longer.” (Psalm 103:16 AMP)
“When the wind passes over it, it vanishes, and its place is no longer known.” (Psalm 103:16 HCSB)
“For when the wind has blown upon it, it is not, neither is his place known.” (Psalm 103:16 ABIPE)
In Psalm 103:16 David finishes his brief shift away from focusing on the Father to focusing on humanity. He is making a comparison between a life lived in the fullness of the presence of God and His Kingdom, and a life lived on my own. In God’s presence life has no end and is on a continual upward flight. Life lived apart from that presence is a short, meaningless life in terms of eternity.
The Apostle Paul stated that he could do nothing apart from Christ. He said that his greatest accomplishments were worthless in comparison to the greatness of Christ. Solomon, in the book of Ecclesiastes, after turning away from the wisdom of God to find fulfilment in his own achievements and possessions, found everything to be vain and empty. The prophet Isaiah called his own righteousness filthy rags. This is what David is trying to help me see in these 3 verses (Psalm 103:13-16). He is not creating an expectation of death, rather he is creating a reason to look back to the Father.
Lived in my own power, no matter how great my life might be, it is short-lived with no lasting value. However, when lived in light of the Kingdom, my life is full of eternal value. When I focus on myself I fall short. When I focus on my Daddy and His kingdom, I live from glory to glory! My life is but a vapor, but my Daddy’s life in me is never ending.
I need to check my focus as I think about…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 243 Kingdom Living (Psalm 103) Part 17 – Verse 16