Psalms 109:23 Commentary: Study, Shadow and Locust Metaphors

The image of an evening shadow would resonate deeply in the ancient Near East, where the setting sun marked the end of labour and the onset of darkness, often a time of vulnerability. Several Old Testament passages use the same metaphor to describe human transience: ‘Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining’ (1 Chr 29:15); man ‘flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue’ (Job 14:2). The psalmist piles up the image: just as the shadow lengthens at sunset and then vanishes, so his life is sliding into nothing.

The locust is a more layered image. Swarms of locusts were a devastating plague in Egypt (Exod 10:13), but the point here is not destruction but helpless motion. A strong wind could sweep locusts into the sea (Exod 10:19) or agitate them so they were ‘tossed up and down’ (Clarke, referencing Dr. Shaw’s observations). The verb ‘shaken off’ (נִנְעַר) suggests being shaken like dust from a garment, something external, abrupt, and decisive. The Niphal passive construction underlines that the psalmist is not fading quietly; he is being driven, pushed, compelled toward the grave.

The verse sits in a section of complaint (Ps 109:21, 25) where David describes himself as ‘poor and needy,’ with a wounded heart, weakened by fasting, and emaciated (‘my flesh faileth of fatness,’ KJV). Historically, this could reflect a period of intense persecution, possibly during Saul’s pursuit or Absalom’s rebellion. The psalm’s later imprecations (vv. 6, 20) and its conclusion in praise (vv. 30, 31) show that the sufferer refuses to surrender to despair, instead turning to God as the only source of help.

Keil and Delitzsch note a variant reading for the first verb: the Masoretic Text vocalizes נֶהֱלָ֑כְתִּי (Niphal), but some manuscripts have נֶהֱלָכְתִּי, which could be read as a Qal form. The difference does not affect the sense of the verse, though the Niphal strengthens the idea of compulsion. The second verb (נִנְעַר) is uncontested. No other significant textual variants are mentioned in the consulted sources.

In the Christian tradition, this verse has often been read through a christological lens. Calvin, following a line of interpretation from the early church, applied the entire psalm to Christ, seeing the lament as the voice of the suffering Messiah. Gill similarly connects the ‘shaken off’ to Christ’s being ‘tossed about’ after his arrest. In Jewish exegesis, the verse has been understood primarily as David’s own cry, reflecting his persecution by Saul or Absalom. More recent scholarship, while not denying a typological reading, tends to focus on the verse’s place within the lament genre and its honest portrayal of human frailty. The verse continues to be used in liturgical prayers and personal devotion as a language for expressing extreme vulnerability before God.

Three-point outline

1. The Shadow of Frailty. Life is a fading shadow. The psalmist uses a universal human experience, the lengthening evening shadow, to confess that his strength is gone and death is near. This points every hearer to their own mortality and need for a God who does not fade.
2. The Locust of Helplessness. Like a locust shaken by the wind, the sufferer has no control. The passive verbs highlight that affliction comes from outside, not from inner weakness. This invites honest lament, acknowledging when forces beyond us press in.
3. The Cry for Deliverance. The verse is not a final statement of despair but a plea in context (see vv. 21, 26). The psalmist describes his condition to God, trusting that the One who sees can also save. Prayer becomes the bridge between helplessness and hope.

Five-point outline

1. Honest recognition of one’s fragile state.
2. Specific metaphors that give language to unnamed grief.
3. Passive suffering, acknowledging the role of external forces.
4. Communal resonance, the psalmist speaks as a representative of the afflicted.
5. Turning to God as the only one who can reverse the fading and the shaking.

Illustration hooks

• The feeling of watching a loved one slip away with a terminal illness, every day the shadow lengthens.
• A single leaf caught in a storm, tossed with no control; or a small boat in a heavy sea, driven by the wind.
• The experience of being abruptly let go from a job or cut off from a community, left shaken and without footing.

Questions your congregation is asking

• Is it okay to feel this helpless and still call myself a Christian?
• Why does God allow his people to be shaken like locusts?
• How do I tell the difference between ordinary sadness and the kind of life-threatening distress the psalmist describes here?

The psalmist uses two vivid pictures, a lengthening shadow and a shaken locust, to give words to a condition many of us find hard to name. This verse invites us to sit with honest descriptions of suffering and then to notice how the psalmist refuses to stop at description: he turns to God. Use these questions to help your group explore the verse and its place in the larger psalm.

Discussion questions

1. Read Psalm 109:23 in a few different translations. What differences do you notice in how the metaphors are rendered? Why might those differences matter?
2. The shadow is ‘lengthening’ or ‘declining.’ What does that specific detail (evening vs. morning) add to the picture of approaching death?
3. Locusts can be both a destructive plague and a fragile insect. Which aspect do you think the psalmist is emphasising, and why?
4. The verbs are passive: ‘I am gone’ (Niphal), ‘I am shaken off.’ How does that grammatical choice shift the meaning from a description of natural decline to something more violent or external?
5. Read verses 21, 22 and 24, 25 alongside verse 23. What do these surrounding verses reveal about the speaker’s overall condition? What does he ask for?
6. The early church (e.g., Calvin) saw Christ as the ultimate speaker of this lament. How does reading the verse as Christ’s words change (or not change) what it says about suffering?
7. Think of a time when you felt ‘shaken off’ or like a ‘fading shadow.’ How does the psalmist’s response, turning directly to God in prayer, guide how you might respond to similar feelings today?