←Psalm 39→BSB

In This Chapter 28 terms 2 themes 3 resources

Key Terms

Guilt (State) 5 Shadow 3 Transgression 2 Rebellion (Offense) 2 To Sin Sin Sin (Act) Sin (Incur Guilt) Guilty (Responsible) Guilt (Consequence) Guiltiness Trespass (Sin) Sinful Sin (Offense) To Stand Guilty Sin (Guilty) Sin (Wrongdoing) Guilty Considered Guilty Guilty Of Sin Previously Sin Against Likeness Rebel (Act) Be Rebellious Rebel (Against Authority) Rebellion Rebelliousness

Themes

Complaints Wisdom Psalms

Resources

Psalms Book Overview Ethan Articles Jeduthun Articles

I Will Watch My Ways

For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

ⓘ This prayer for rescue reflects the psalmist’s discouragement,...

This prayer for rescue reflects the psalmist’s discouragement, which comes from having a limited perspective on his situation.
ⓘ Suffering in silence only intensifies the psalmist’s anguish,...

Suffering in silence only intensifies the psalmist’s anguish, pain, and inner turmoil.
1I said, “I will watch my waysso that I will not sin with my tongue;I will guard my mouth with a muzzleas long as the wicked are present.”2I was speechless and still;I remained silent, even from speaking good,and my sorrow was stirred.3My heart grew hot within me;as I mused, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
ⓘ how fleeting my life is: This perspective comes...

how fleeting my life is: This perspective comes out of suffering (see 78:39; 89:47–48; 90:3–10). The human lifetime is but a moment to God (90:4), as temporary as a breath (see 39:11; 144:4).
ⓘ Because of his suffering and sin, the psalmist...

Because of his suffering and sin, the psalmist concludes that life is meaningless and fleeting (see Job 7:7–10; Isa 40:6–8). He had expected a wicked life to have those qualities (see Pss 37:2, 20; 103:15–16), but now whether a person is godly or not seems to be irrelevant.
4“Show me, O LORD, my endand the measure of my days.Let me know how fleeting my life is.5You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths,and my lifetime as nothing before You.Truly each man at his bestexists as but a breath.Selah6Surely every man goes about like a phantom;surely he bustles in vain;he heaps up richesnot knowing who will haul them away.
7And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?My hope is in You.8Deliver me from all my transgressions;do not make me the reproach of fools.
ⓘ The psalmist links suffering with God’s discipline, assuming...

The psalmist links suffering with God’s discipline, assuming that it is punishment for his sin.
9I have become mute;I do not open my mouthbecause of what You have done.10Remove Your scourge from me;I am perishing by the force of Your hand.11You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity,consuming like a moth what he holds dear;surely each man is but a vapor.Selah12Hear my prayer, O LORD,and give ear to my cry for help;do not be deaf to my weeping.For I am a foreigner dwelling with You,a stranger like all my fathers.13Turn Your gaze away from me,that I may again be cheeredbefore I depart and am no more.”