Again, with different words and images the writer indicates how miserable their situation is: our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground.
These are images of humiliation and of being close to death. Despair reigns. This is about all of life: body, soul, spirit—they all are in a state of complete humiliation.
Later in life, the followers of Jesus realize that this belongs to those who follow the Lord. In Colossians 1:24 we read, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
And in 1 Thessalonians 3:2b –1 Thessalonians 3:3, “…to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.”
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground.