Psalm 39

PSALM 39

Yahweh, Make Me Know My End

For the choir director. For ^†Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

¹I said, “I will ^akeep watch over my ways

That I ^bmay not sin with my tongue;

I will keep watch over ^cmy mouth as with a muzzle

While the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was ^amute with silence,

I even kept silent from speaking good,

And my anguish grew worse.

³My ^aheart was hot within me,

While I meditated the fire was burning;

Then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“Yahweh, cause me to know ^amy end

And what is the extent of my days;

Let me know how ^btransient I am.

⁵“Behold, You have made ^amy days as ¹handbreadths,

And my ^blifetime as nothing before You;

Surely every man, even standing firm, is ²altogether ^cvanity. ³Selah.

⁶“Surely every man ^awalks about as ¹a shadow;

Surely they make an ^buproar in vain;

He ^cpiles up riches and does not know who will gather them.

⁷“And now, Lord, what do I hope in?

My ^aexpectation is in You.

⁸“^aDeliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the ^breproach of the wicked fool.

⁹“I have become ^amute, I do not open my mouth,

Because it is ^bYou who have done it.

¹⁰“^aRemove Your plague from me;

Because of ^bthe opposition of Your hand I am wasting away.

¹¹“With ^areproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;

You ^bconsume as a moth what is precious to him;

Surely ^cevery man is vanity. Selah.

¹²“^aHear my prayer, O Yahweh, and give ear to my cry for help;

Do not be silent ^bat my tears;

For I am ^ca sojourner with You,

A ^dforeign resident like all my fathers.

¹³“^aTurn Your gaze away from me, that I may ¹smile again

Before I go and am no more.”