Psalm 39

What Is the Measure of My Days?

39To the choirmaster: to ^vJeduthun. A Psalm of David.

¹I said, “I will ^wguard my ways,

that I ^xmay not sin with my tongue;

I will ^yguard my mouth with a muzzle,

so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was ^zmute and silent;

I held my peace to no avail,

and my distress grew worse.

³My ^aheart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“O Lord, ^bmake me know my end

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting I am!

⁵Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and ^cmy lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely ^dall mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

⁶Surely a man ^egoes about as a shadow!

Surely for nothing¹ they are in turmoil;

man ^fheaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

⁷“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

^gMy hope is in you.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions.

^hDo not make me the scorn of the fool!

⁹ⁱI am mute; I do not open my mouth,

^jfor it is you who have done it.

^10kRemove your stroke from me;

I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

¹¹When you discipline a man

with ^lrebukes for sin,

you ^mconsume like a ⁿmoth what is dear to him;

^osurely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

^12p“Hear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not your peace at my tears!

For I am ^qa sojourner with you,

^qa guest, like all my fathers.

^13rLook away from me, that I may smile again,

^sbefore I depart and ^tam no more!”