4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
4 They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.
4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
4 All we are is a puff of air; we're like shadows in a campfire.
4 Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
4 For they are like a breath of air; their days are like a passing shadow.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 144:4
Commentary on Psalm 144:1-8
(Read Psalm 144:1-8)
When men become eminent for things as to which they have had few advantages, they should be more deeply sensible that God has been their Teacher. Happy those to whom the Lord gives that noblest victory, conquest and dominion over their own spirits. A prayer for further mercy is fitly begun with a thanksgiving for former mercy. There was a special power of God, inclining the people of Israel to be subject to David; it was typical of the bringing souls into subjection to the Lord Jesus. Man's days have little substance, considering how many thoughts and cares of a never-dying soul are employed about a poor dying body. Man's life is as a shadow that passes away. In their highest earthly exaltation, believers will recollect how mean, sinful, and vile they are in themselves; thus they will be preserved from self-importance and presumption. God's time to help his people is, when they are sinking, and all other helps fail.