I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke, but I have not forgotten to obey your decrees.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke. I don’t forget your statutes.
- KJV For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
- BSB Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
- NKJV For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, Yet I do not forget Your statutes.
- NASB Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Though shriveled and useless like a wineskin dried in smoke, the psalmist still does not forget God's statutes. Outward ruin does not destroy inward faithfulness.
Overview
The vivid image of a wineskin hung in smoke pictures a man cracked, blackened, and seemingly spent by suffering. Yet even in this wasted condition he clings to remembering God's word, proving that faith can endure when the body is worn out. This steadfastness foreshadows the believer's hope that though the outer self decays, the inner self is renewed (2 Cor. 4:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Job 30:30My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.
- Ps 119:176I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.
- Ps 119:61The ropes of the wicked bind me, but I won’t forget your law.
- Ps 119:16I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. GIMEL
- Ps 102:3–4For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.
- Ps 22:15My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 119:83 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.