Psalms 39

General context

The speaker says he resolved to take heed to his ways so as not to sin with his tongue, keeping his mouth with a bridle while the wicked was before him. He was dumb with silence and held his peace even from good, and his sorrow was stirred; his heart grew hot within him, the fire burned while he mused, and then he spoke. He asks the Lord to make him know his end and the measure of his days so that he may know how frail he is. He says God has made his days as a handbreadth and his age as nothing before him, that every man at his best state is altogether vanity, and Selah follows. Every man walks in a vain show, is disquieted in vain, and heaps up riches without knowing who will gather them. He asks what he waits for and says his hope is in the Lord, asks deliverance from all his transgressions, and asks not to be made the reproach of the foolish. He was dumb and did not open his mouth because God did it. He asks God to remove his stroke, saying he is consumed by the blow of God's hand, and that when God corrects man with rebukes for iniquity he makes his beauty consume away like a moth; again every man is vanity, and Selah follows. He asks the Lord to hear his prayer and not hold his peace at his tears, because he is a stranger and a sojourner with God as all his fathers were, and asks to be spared so that he may recover strength before he goes hence and is no more.

Cited passages: Psalms 39:1, Psalms 39:2, Psalms 39:3, Psalms 39:4, Psalms 39:5, Psalms 39:6, Psalms 39:7, Psalms 39:8, Psalms 39:9, Psalms 39:10, Psalms 39:11, Psalms 39:12, Psalms 39:13

Psalms 39 (KJV)

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Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "I said, I will take heed to my ways", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction for the psalm. The speaker is a single "I". Verses 1 to 3 report his own past resolve and silence in the past tense, and from verse 4 he addresses the Lord directly. "The wicked" before whom he kept silent is not named or numbered, and "the foolish" whose reproach he fears are likewise unidentified. The trouble is described only as God's "stroke" and "the blow of thine hand", which the speaker says consume him; the text does not say what illness, loss or punishment is meant, and the speaker himself attributes it to God with "because thou didst it". He calls himself a stranger and a sojourner "as all my fathers were" without naming those fathers. Selah stands after verses 5 and 11. No place or time is given, and the psalm ends without reporting whether the plea to be spared is answered.

Cited passages: Psalms 39:1, Psalms 39:8, Psalms 39:10, Psalms 39:9, Psalms 39:12, Psalms 39:13

Literary context

The poem moves from silence to speech. Three verses describe a mouth kept with a bridle and a heart growing hot, and the hinge is "then spake I with my tongue"; what follows is the speech. That speech falls into two parts, each ending in the same verdict and a Selah: "verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity" after the handbreadth of days, and "surely every man is vanity" after the moth. The word "dumb" returns in verse 9 with a new reason, no longer the presence of the wicked but "because thou didst it". The images are small and bodily: a bridle, a handbreadth, a vain show, riches heaped for an unknown gatherer, beauty eaten like a moth, tears. The turn at verse 7, "what wait I for? my hope is in thee", does not resolve into praise; the last word is a request for reprieve, "O spare me", before going hence. The dumb man of the previous psalm, "as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth", is taken up here as a chosen discipline that breaks.

Cited passages: Psalms 39:3, Psalms 39:5, Psalms 39:11, Psalms 39:9, Psalms 39:6, Psalms 39:7, Psalms 39:13, Psalms 38:13

Key moments

1. A bridle on the mouth (Psalms 39:1). The speaker resolves to keep his mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before him.
2. The fire burns and he speaks (Psalms 39:3). His heart grows hot while he muses, and his silence breaks into speech.
3. Days as a handbreadth (Psalms 39:5). He says God has made his days a handbreadth and every man at his best is vanity.
4. My hope is in thee (Psalms 39:7). He asks what he waits for and answers that his hope is in the Lord.
5. Remove thy stroke (Psalms 39:10). He asks God to remove the stroke by which he is consumed.
6. A stranger and a sojourner (Psalms 39:12). He asks the Lord not to be silent at his tears, calling himself a sojourner like his fathers.
7. Spare me before I go (Psalms 39:13). He asks to be spared to recover strength before he goes hence and is no more.

For reflection

The speaker asks to know the measure of his days so that he may know how frail he is, and then asks to be spared; what does he expect that knowledge to change in how he waits?

People in this chapter

• David

Also indexed here:

• Jeduthun