Psalms 102:3

“For my days are consumed like smoke, etc.] Which suddenly rises up, is easily dissipated, and quickly disappears; so sudden, short, and transient, are the days of man’s life; (see <590414>James 4:14) or “in smoke” f1404 , as the Syriac version; his days were spent in great obscurity, in the darkness of affliction, temptation, and desertion; and in so much vexation, trouble, and uneasiness, as if he had lived in smoke all his time: and my bones are burnt as an hearth; on which fire is continually made for the preparation of food, and other uses: or as a “trivet”, or “gridiron”: so the Targum: or as a frying pan; so the Arabic version: the meaning is, that, through trouble and grief, his…”

“For my days are consumed like smoke - Margin, “into smoke.” Literally, “in smoke.” That is, They vanish as smoke; they pass away and become nothing; they are spent in affliction, and seem to accomplish nothing. The idea is, that in his affliction he seemed to accomplish none of the ends of life. His life seemed to be wasted. This is often the feeling in trial: and yet in trial a man may be more useful, he may do more to accomplish the real ends of life, he may do more to illustrate the power and excellence of religion, than he ever did in the days of prosperity. And my bones are burned as an hearth - Or rather, as faggots or fuel. Literally, “They are burned as a burning.” The idea is, that…”

“An hearth - An hearth is heated or burnt by the coals which are laid upon it. Psalms 102:5”

“102:3 Smoke is an image of transitory life (37:20; 68:2). • The psalmist’s bones represent his whole being (see 6:2; 34:19-22).”

“my days: Psa 37:20, Psa 119:83; Jam 4:14 like smoke: or (as some read) into smoke my bones: Psa 22:14, Psa 22:15, Psa 31:10, Psa 38:3; Job 30:30; Lam 1:13, Lam 3:4 Psalms 102:4”

“From this point onward the Psalm becomes original. Concerning the Beth in בעשׁן, vid., on Psa 37:20. The reading כּמו קד (in the Karaite Ben-Jerucham) enriches the lexicon in the same sense with a word which has scarcely had any existence. מוקד (Arabic mauḳid) signifies here, as in other instances, a hearth. נחרוּ is, as in Psa 69:4, Niphal: my bones are heated through with a fever-heat, as a hearth with the smouldering fire that is on it. הוּכּה (cf. יגודּוּ, Psa 94:21) is used exactly as in Hos 9:16, cf. Psa 121:5. The heart is said to dry up when the life's blood, of which it is the reservoir, fails. The verb שׁכח is followed by מן of dislike. On the cleaving of the bones to the flesh…”