39
Psalm 39 – The Pathos of Life
For the leader; for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
I vowed to watch my words,
and sin not with my tongue,
but to put on my mouth a muzzle,
while the wicked were in my presence.
I was silent and dumb,
speechless:
but my pain was stirred up.
My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, the fire was kindled,
till at last the words came to my tongue.
 
“Teach me, O Lord, my end,
and the sum of my days what it is.
Let me know how transient I am.
See! My days you have made but a span,
and my life is as nothing before you.
It is but as a breath that everyone stands:
Selah
it is but in mere semblance we walk to and fro,
and all our noise is for nothing.
We heap up, and know not who will gather.”
 
And now, what wait I for, Lord?
My hope is in you.
From all my transgressions deliver me;
make me not the scorn of the fool.
I am dumb, never opening my mouth,
for this is your own doing.
10 Remove your stroke from off me:
by the might of your hand I am spent.
11 When you rebuke someone to punish their sins,
you consume, like a moth, what they treasures.
Everyone is only a breath.
Selah
 
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
attend to my cry for help.
Hold not your peace at my tears.
For I am but a guest of yours,
a stranger visiting, like all my ancestors.
13 Look away from me, let me smile again,
before I die and am gone.