Psalms 39:1-13

Psalms 39

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

The Lament and Prayer of a Divinely Stricken One.

ANALYSIS

Stanza I., Psalms 39:1-3, How the Stricken One's Resolve to be Silent is Broken. Stanza II., Psalms 39:4-6, Lament that Life, already Short, should be further Shortened. Stanza III., Psalms 39:7-11, Prayer for Pardon and Healing, with a recognition of the Marring Effect of the Disease. Stanza IV., Psalms 39:12-13, Supplementary and Subdued Prayer for Help.

(Lm.) PsalmBy David.

1

I saidLet me take heed to my ways

that I sin not with my tongue,

Let me restrain my mouth[416]

[416] MI.: Let me put (so Gt.Gn.) to my mouth a muzzle.

while a lawless man is before me.

2

I was dumb with silence

I abstained from blessing;
But my pain had been stirred

3

hot was my heart within me:

As I murmured there was kindled a fire
I spake with my tongue.

4

Let me know O Jehovah mine end

and the measure of my days what it is:
I would fain know why forsaken[417] am I.

[417] Same word as rejected in Isaiah 53:3. Cp. Thirtle, O.T.P., 186; and see Psalms 38:10-11.

5

Lo! as handbreadths thou hast given my days,

And my life-time was as nothing before thee:

6

Only a vapour is any man though set firm,

Only in semblance doth any man march to and fro,
Only a vapour that he should make a commotion:
He heapeth things up and knoweth not who shall carry them off!

7

Now therefore for what have I waited Sovereign Lord?[418]

[418] Some cod. (w. 2 ear. pr. edns., Aram. and Syr.): JehovahGn.

as for my hope thine it is!

8

From all my transgressions rescue me,

the reproach of the vile[419] do not make me.

[419] Or: senselessDr.

9

I am dumb I will not open my mouth

for thou didst it!

10

Remove from off me thy stroke,[420]

[420] See note on Psalms 38:11 (same word here).

through the hostility of thy hand I am spent.

11

When by rebukes for iniquity thou hast corrected a man

then hast thou consumed as a moth his comeliness.
Only a vapour is any man!

12

Oh hear my prayer Jehovah!

and unto my cry for help oh give ear!
at my tears do not be silent;
For a sojourner am I with thee,
a settler, like all my fathers.

13

Look away from me that I may brighten up,

ere yet I depart and be no more.

(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 39

I said to myself, I-'m going to quit complaining! I-'ll keep quiet, especially when the ungodly are around me.
2, 3 But as I stood there silently, the turmoil within me grew to the bursting point. The more I mused, the hotter the fires inside. Then at last I spoke, and pled with God:
4 Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be! Help me to know that I am here for but a moment more.
5, 6 My life is no longer than my hand! My whole lifetime is but a moment to You. Proud man! Frail as breath! A shadow! And all his busy rushing ends in nothing. He heaps up riches for someone else to spend.
7 And so, Lord, my only hope is in You.
8 Save me from being overpowered by my sins, for even fools will mock me then.
9 Lord, I am speechless before You. I will not open my mouth to speak one word of complaint, for my punishment is from You.[421]

[421] Literally, for You have done it.

10 Lord, don-'t hit me anymoreI am exhausted beneath Your hand.
11 When You punish a man for his sins, he is destroyed; for he is as fragile as a moth-infested cloth; yes, man is frail as breath.
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry! Don-'t sit back, unmindful of my tears! For I am Your guest! I am a traveler passing through the earth, as all my fathers were!
13 Spare me, Lord! Let me recover and be filled with happiness again before my death.

EXPOSITION

The first thing in this psalm to arrest our attention is its likeliness to the previous psalm; and then, the next thing, its unlikeness; which, indeed, is so great as to divert attention from its similarity. To describe this psalm, as some have done, as merely an Elegy on The Vanity of Life, is quite to miss its especial characteristic. First and foremost it is the Wail of one who has been Stricken of God with a plague on account of Transgression. The Vanity of Life is merely the background of the picture, to enhance the pity of it, that one who in any case had but a short life to live should have his comeliness disfigured and his life made shorter still. The plagueprobably leprosywhich appeared in Psalms 38, re-appears here in Ph. 39: that is the striking but greatly overlooked fact. As will be seen, the same technical word (nega-) which was used in Psalms 39:11 of the previous psalm, is again used in Psalms 39:10 of this; and as, there, a descriptive confirmation was found (Psalms 39:10-11) giving unmistakable effect to the suspicious word, so here an equally sure confirmation of it is discovered in the unquestionable allusion to his own marred looks in Psalms 39:11. To catch this reference to his own lamentable bodily condition, is to feel a new point in his plea that he might have declared to him the measure of his days. He already knew the ordinary brevity of human life, and feels it so strongly that he employs it as a refrain; but, for that very reason, he was not likely, in an ordinary way, to make it the point of a special petition. But now, as the case is, he would be glad to know the worst. Hence it can be no longer open to question that, as in the previous psalm, so in this,the petitioner has fallen under the punitive stroke of Divine displeasure.

It is just when this similarity has been put beyond further question, that our apprehension of the wide contrast between the two psalms becomes keen and inquisitive. Is this another plague-stricken psalmist; or if the same, what has happened to impart such a different tone to his present effusion? The similarity being conceded, the contrast is so great as to become almost startling. There, enemies were in evidence: here, there are none. There, all was excitement and turmoil: here, all is as restful as it is sad. There, no general reflections on the brevity of life were indulged in: here, they abound, and are set forth so forcibly as to mislead the casual reader into the mistake of regarding this composition as a dirge to the note of Vanity of vanities! all is vanity! Besides all which, there is a tone of resignation here, and an extreme moderation of request, which are in the greatest contrast with the previous psalm.

How is this contrast to be accounted for? Is the writer of this psalm another man than he that wrote the previous? But for the inscription, we should quite readily have come to that conclusion; and should have unhesitatingly fixed upon the leper-King Uzziah as the probable author. We should have called attention to the probable fact that Uzziah was smitten for lifewhich would have accounted for his resignation and for his seeming to say: And if there may be no complete and early removal of the stroke, let there be at least a brightening up before I go hence. This, too would have given especial point to the seeming apprehension of the sufferer that he might, in his distress be overheard by an attendant apparently sinning with his tongue. The previous psalm, however, warns us against being hasty in concluding against the authorship of David, even here. According to that psalm, his wives withdrew from him, his lovers and friends stood aloof, his neighbours kept at a distance; and, under these circumstances, although David may not have been formally banished to a several house like that to which Uzziah had to retire, he may have been confined to his own apartments during his sickness, and may have had ample opportunities to bridle his tongue while uncertain attendants were in his presence. Then, moreover, it must be remembered that sick people are proverbially subject to moody fluctuationsfiery one day; subdued the next; besides which, time works wonders,by giving space for reflection; and reflection, on a sensitive mind like David'S, may have added to the wonder, by soon transforming the high-spirited and resentful statesman of the 38th psalm, into the resigned and patient moraliser of the 39th; especially may this have in part come about by influences due to changing circumstances in the state: as, for instance, by a recrudescence of the bodily plague, after Absaloms-' rebellion had become a thing of the past, when the sadder but wiser king had ample time and increased motive to dwell, as he had never done, on the vanity of human life. It is, in any case, significant, that, in his pathetic address on the consecration of the offerings for the building of Solomon's temple as recorded in 1 Chronicles 29:15, the venerable monarch should, in fellowship with his people, have used language precisely similar to that which closes this psalm: language which we shall do well to keep in mind, as suggesting that Messianic hope did not always run high in Israel, and, indeed, by the very reaction of its occasional brilliance was apt to make it appear that only in this life had those ancients hope in Jehovah their Godthat they were, indeed, for a brief span, sojourners and settlers with their God in the enjoyment of the good things of his house; and then departed into the land of forgetfulness.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

There are so many books to help you in your study of the psalms. Many of them will ask you to divide the psalm into many divisions and sub-divisionshow would this psalm divide? What is the theme of this psalm?

2.

What was it that stirred David so intently? Wasn-'t it the awful inequalities of life? Read verses one thru three with the thought of two or three of our present day problems. One might begin with the fantastic outlay of money for material advantages while the cause of Christ limps along for want of financeor is this the problem? Discuss.

3.

Are verses four through six the expression of what finally burst forth?it hardly seems so. Discuss.

4.

If we had the date of our death before uswould it help? If we could hold the two dates usually inscribed upon the tombstoneif we could hold these dates in our hand while we lived in the Spirit World of eternityof infinity we might relax our feverish efforts. Is this the thought of verse four? Discuss.

5.

The brevity of life is described with some very graphic figures: (1) A hand breadth (2) A breath (3) A shadow. Discuss the meaning to life now.

6.

The only hope of man is in the Lord. How eternallypresentlypersonally true this is! Discuss by reading verses seven through eleven.

7.

David says of man that he is a house guest of God. Read Psalms 39:12-13 and discuss.