PSALM 39

The Vanity of Life.

For the choir director, for †Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

1 I said, “I will aguard my ways

That I bmay not sin with my tongue;

I will guard cmy mouth as with a muzzle

While the wicked are in my presence.”

2 I was amute 1and silent,

I 2refrained even from good,

And my 3sorrow grew worse.

3 My aheart was hot within me,

While I was musing the fire burned;

Then I spoke with my tongue:

4 “Lord, make 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 handbreadths,

And my blifetime as nothing in Your sight;

Surely every man 1at his best is 2a mere cbreath.

3Selah.

6 “Surely every man awalks about as 1a phantom;

Surely they make an buproar for nothing;

He camasses riches and does not know who will gather them.

7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait?

My ahope is in You.

8 “aDeliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the breproach of the foolish.

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 1perishing.

11 “With areproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;

You bconsume as a moth what is precious to him;

Surely cevery man is a mere breath.

Selah.

12 “aHear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;

Do not be silent bat my tears;

For I am ca stranger with You,

A dsojourner like all my fathers.

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

Before I depart and am no more.”