Psalm 39

PSALM 39

The Vanity of Life.

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

¹I 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.”

²I was ^amute ¹and silent,

I ²refrained even from good,

And my ³sorrow grew worse.

³My ^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.”