In a vain shew— In a vain shew of happiness. Green. The word צלם tselem, is only used twice in the psalms: Here, and Psalms 73:20 in both which places it signifies what is imaginary, in opposition to what is real. The Hebrew word יצבר iitsbor rendered, He heapeth up, signifies to rake together; in which there is an allusion to the husbandman's collecting his corn together before he carries it to the barn. The metaphor is elegant, intimating the precariousness of human life, and the vanity of human acquisitions; which, though heaped up together like corn by one person, may soon become the possession of another.
Related Commentaries of Psalms 39:6
Psalms 39:6
6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.