Psalms 39
39
The Vanity of Life
1For the leader, for Jeduthun.#1 Chr 16:41; Ps 62:1; 77:1. A psalm of David.
I
2I said, “I will watch my ways,
lest I sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth.”
3Mute and silent before the wicked,
I refrain from good things.
But my sorrow increases;
4my heart smolders within me.#Jer 20:9.
In my sighing a fire blazes up,
and I break into speech:
II
5Lord, let me know my end, the number of my days,
that I may learn how frail I am.
6To be sure, you establish the expanse of my days;
indeed, my life is as nothing before you.
Every man is but a breath.#Ps 62:10; 90:9–10; 144:4; Jb 7:6, 16; 14:1, 5; Eccl 6:12; Wis 2:5.
Selah
III
7Man goes about as a mere phantom;
they hurry about, although in vain;
he heaps up stores without knowing for whom.
8And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
You are my only hope.
9From all my sins deliver me;
let me not be the taunt of fools.
10I am silent and do not open my mouth
because you are the one who did this.
11Take your plague away from me;
I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.
12You chastise man with rebukes for sin;
like a moth you consume his treasures.
Every man is but a breath.
Selah
13Listen to my prayer, Lord, hear my cry;
do not be deaf to my weeping!
For I am with you like a foreigner,
a refugee, like my ancestors.#Ps 119:19; Gn 23:4; Heb 11:13; 1 Pt 2:11.
14Turn your gaze from me, that I may smile
before I depart to be no more.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalm 39
39
To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.
1I said, I will take heed to my ways,
That I sin not with my tongue:
I will keep my mouth with a bridle,
While the wicked is before me.
2I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred.
3My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned:
Then spake I with my tongue.
4 LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is;
That I may know how frail I am.
5Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth;
And mine age is as nothing before thee: Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
6Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: Surely they are disquieted in vain:
He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
7And now, Lord, what wait I for?
My hope is in thee.
8Deliver me from all my transgressions:
Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
9I was dumb, I opened not my mouth;
Because thou didst it. 10Remove thy stroke away from me:
I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,
Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:
Surely every man is vanity. Selah.
12Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry;
Hold not thy peace at my tears:
For I am a stranger with thee,
And a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13O spare me, that I may recover strength,
Before I go hence, and be no more.
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