39:1 [For the music director, for ①Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.]
I said, “I will keep watch over my ways
So that I do not sin with my tongue;
I will keep watch over my mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.”
▷ ①1 Chr 16:41
39:2 I was mute ①and silent,
I ②refused to say even something good,
And my pain was stirred up.
▷ ①Lit with silence ②Lit was silent from good
39:3 My heart was hot within me,
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue:
39:4 “LORD, let me know my end,
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how transient I am.
39:5 Behold, You have made my days like ①hand widths,
And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Certainly all mankind standing is ②a mere breath. Selah
▷ ①I.e., short ②Or altogether breath
39:6 Certainly every person walks around as ①a fleeting shadow;
They certainly make an uproar for nothing;
He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
▷ ①Lit an image
39:7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You.
39:8 Save me from all my wrongdoings;
Do not make me an object of reproach for the foolish.
39:9 I have become mute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is You who have done it.
39:10 Remove Your plague from me;
Because of the opposition of Your hand I am ①perishing.
▷ ①Or wasting away
39:11 With rebukes You punish a person for wrongdoing;
You consume like a moth what is precious to him;
Certainly all mankind is mere breath! Selah
39:12 “Hear my prayer, LORD, and listen to my cry for help;
Do not be silent to my tears;
For I am a stranger with You,
One who lives abroad, like all my fathers.
39:13 Turn Your eyes away from me, that I may become cheerful again
Before I depart and am no more.”