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Psalm 78:39

He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.

37For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
39He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.
40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!
41They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
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← Psalm 78:38Psalm 78:40 →
Notice

The wind that never returns makes human life seem fragile, and God's remembrance connects that frailty with his mercy toward people who rebelled.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you notice about God remembering flesh after the account of his mercy?

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Where does the picture of a passing wind meet your sense of life's limits?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

8 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 90:10The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years; yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we fly away.Both psalms describe human life as passing away, with Psalm 90 naming the years and burdens within that brief span.
Genesis 6:3The LORD said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”Both passages connect God's response to humanity with the fact that people are flesh and their days have limits.
Job 7:7Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye will no more see good.Job asks God to remember that his life is a breath; Psalm 78 says God remembered people were a passing wind.
James 4:14Yet you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.Psalm 78 compares human life to passing wind, while James compares it to vapor that appears and vanishes.
Job 7:16I loathe my life. I don’t want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.Both describe life's brevity through air: Psalm 78 speaks of passing wind, while Job calls his days a breath amid distress.
Psalm 103:14–16For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.Both psalms say God remembers human frailty, naming people as flesh in Psalm 78 and dust in Psalm 103.
Job 10:9Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?Job asks God to remember his clay formation and approaching dust; Psalm 78 describes God remembering the frailty of flesh.
John 3:6That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.Their shared word is “flesh”; Psalm 78 speaks of mortality, while John distinguishes birth of flesh from birth of Spirit.
Where this verse fits

Aging. death and what comes after.

What the Bible says about death →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 78:38–39 aloud, pausing at “He remembered”

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Encouragement

Your short life is no hidden fact before God. The God described here remembered human frailty as he showed mercy to his rebellious people.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 78:39. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 78 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).