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Psalm Thirty-nine
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 39
To the chief Musician, cf15I even to Jeduthun, a Psalm of
David. Some take Jeduthun to be the name of a musical instrument, as Jarchi, on
which, and others the first word of a song, to the tune of which, this psalm
was sung, as Aben Ezra; though it seems best, with Kimchi and others, to
understand it as the name of the chief musician, to whom this psalm was sent to
be made use of in public service; since Jeduthun was, with his sons, appointed
by David to prophesy with harps and psalteries, and to give praise and thanks
unto the Lord, 1 Chronicles 16:41;
he is the same with EthanF19Vid. Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 513,
805. . The occasion of it is thought, by some, to be the rebellion of his son
Absalom; so Theodoret thinks it was written when he fled from Absalom, and was
cursed by Shimei; or rather it may be some sore affliction, which lay upon
David for the chastisement of him; see Psalm 39:9; and the
argument of the psalm seems to be much the same with that of the preceding one,
as Kimchi observes.
Psalm 39:1 I
said, “I will guard my ways, Lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my
mouth with a muzzle, While the wicked are before me.”
YLT
1To the Overseer, to
Jeduthun. -- A Psalm of David. I have said, `I observe my ways, Against sinning
with my tongue, I keep for my mouth a curb, while the wicked [is] before me.'
I said,.... That is, in his heart; he purposed and determined within
himself to do as follows; and he might express it with his mouth, and so his
purpose became a promise;
I will take heed to my ways; as every good man
should; that is, to all his actions, conduct, and conversation: it becomes him
to take heed what ways he walks in; that they are the ways of God, which he
directs to; that they are the ways of Christ, which he has left an example to
follow in; and that they are according to the word of God; that he walks in
Christ, the way of salvation, and by faith on him; that he chooses and walks in
the way of truth, and not error; and in all, the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blameless; and in the path of holiness, in which, though fools, they
shall not err: and it is also necessary that he should take heed that he does
nothing, either by embracing error, or going into immorality, by which the ways
of God, and Christ, and truth, are evil spoken of, blasphemed and reproached;
and that he does not depart out of these ways, nor stumble, slip, and fall in
them;
that I sin not with my tongue; which is a world of
iniquity, and has a multitude of vices belonging to it; not only in profane
men, but in professors of religion; whom it becomes to take heed that they sin
not with it, by lying one to another, by angry and passionate expressions, by
corrupt communication, filthiness, foolish talking, and jesting, which are not
convenient; by whispering, talebearing, backbiting, and by evil speaking one of
another: particularly there are vices of the tongue, which the saints are
liable to under afflictive providences, and seem chiefly designed here; such as
envious expressions at the prosperity of others; words of impatience under
their own afflictions, and murmurings at the hand of God upon them; such as
these the psalmist determined, within himself, to guard against; in order to
which he proposed to take the following method;
I will keep my mouth with a bridle: that is, bridle his
tongue, that being an unruly member, and to be kept in with bit and bridle,
like an unruly horse; see James 1:26;
while the wicked is before me; or "against
me"F20לנגדי "adversum me",
V. L. "contra me", Cocceius; so the Targum. ; meaning either while
Ahithophel and Absalom were conspiring and rebelling against him, and Shimei
was cursing him, under which he behaved with great silence, calmness, and
patience; see 2 Samuel 15:25; or
while he had the flourishing condition of wicked men in his view, and was
meditating on it; or rather, when anyone of them came to visit him in his
affliction, he was determined to be wholly silent, that they might have no
opportunity of rejoicing over him, nor of reproaching him, and the good ways of
God: and indeed it is proper for the people of God to be always upon their
guard, when they are in the presence of wicked men; and be careful what they
utter with their lips, who watch their words to improve them against them, and
the religion they profess.
Psalm 39:2 2 I was mute with silence, I
held my peace even from good; And my sorrow was stirred up.
YLT
2I was dumb [with] silence,
I kept silent from good, and my pain is excited.
I was dumb with silence,.... Quite silent, as if
he had been a dumb man, and could not speak; so he was before men, especially
wicked men, and under the afflicting hand of God; see Psalm 39:9; thus he
put his resolution into practice;
I held my peace, even from good; that is, he
said neither good nor bad: this expresses the greatness of his silence: he did
not choose to open his lips, and say anything that was good, lest evil should
come out along with it; though this may be considered as carrying the matter
too far, even to a criminal silence; saying nothing of the affliction he
laboured under as coming from the hand of God, and of his own desert of it; nor
praying to God for the removal of it, nor giving him thanks for his divine
goodness in supporting him under it, and making it useful to him; though it
seems rather to have respect to his silence concerning the goodness of his
cause before men; he said not one word in the vindication of himself; but
committed his cause to him that judgeth righteously. The Targum and Jarchi
interpret it of his silence and cessation "from the words of the
law": he said nothing concerning the good word of God; which sense, could
it be admitted, the words in Jeremiah 20:9;
might be compared with these and the following;
and my sorrow was stirred; this was the issue and
effect of his silence; his sorrow being pent up, and not let out and eased by
words, swelled and increased the more; or the sorrow of his heart was stirred
up at the insults and reproaches of his enemies, as Paul's spirit was stirred
up by the superstition and idolatry of the city of Athens, Acts 17:16.
Psalm 39:3 3 My heart was hot within
me; While I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
YLT
3Hot [is] my heart within
me, In my meditating doth the fire burn, I have spoken with my tongue.
My heart was hot within me,.... Either with zeal for
God; or rather with envy at the prosperity of wicked men, and with impatience
at his own afflictions;
while I was musing the fire burned; not the fire of the
divine word, while he was meditating upon it, which caused his heart to burn
within him; nor the fire of divine love, the coals whereof give a most vehement
flame, when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, and the thoughts of it
are directed by the Spirit of God to dwell in meditation on it; but the fire of
passion, anger, and resentment, while meditating on his own adversity, and the
prosperity of others;
then spake I with
my tongue; and so broke the resolution he had made, Psalm 39:1; he
spoke not for God, though to him; not by way of thankfulness for his grace and
goodness to him, in supporting him under his exercises; but in a way of
complaint, because of his afflictions; it was in prayer he spoke to God with
his tongue, and it was unadvisedly with his lips, as follows.
Psalm 39:4 4 “Lord, make me to
know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know
how frail I am.
YLT
4`Cause me to know, O
Jehovah, mine end, And the measure of my days -- what it [is],' I know how
frail I [am].
Lord, make me to know mine end,.... Not Christ, the end
of the law for righteousness, as Jerom interprets it; nor how long he should
live, how many days, months, and years more; for though they are known of God,
they are not to be known by men; but either the end of his afflictions, or his,
latter end, his mortal state, that he might be more thoughtful of that, and so
less concerned about worldly things, his own external happiness, or that of
others; or rather his death; see Job 6:11; and his
sense is, that he might know death experimentally; or that he might die: this
he said in a sinful passionate way, as impatient of his afflictions and
exercises; and in the same way the following expressions are to be understood;
and the measure of my days, what it is; being
desirous to come to the end of it; otherwise he knew it was but as an hand's
breadth, as he says in Psalm 39:5;
that I may know how
frail I am; or "what time I have here"; or "when I shall
cease to be"F21מה חדל
אני "quanti aevi ego", Montanus;
"quamdiu roundanus ero", Vatablus; "quam brevis temporis
sim", Musculus. ; or, as the Targum is, "when I shall cease from the
world"; so common it is for the saints themselves, in an angry or
impatient fit, to desire death; see Job 7:15; and a
very rare and difficult thing it is to wish for it from right principles, and
with right views, as the Apostle Paul did, Philemon 1:23.
Psalm 39:5 5 Indeed, You have made my
days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly
every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
YLT
5Lo, handbreadths Thou hast
made my days, And mine age [is] as nothing before Thee, Only, all vanity [is]
every man set up. Selah.
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth,.... These
words, with the following clause, are the psalmist's answer to his own
inquiries; or rather a correction of his inquiry and impatience, showing how
needless it was to ask such questions, and be impatient to die, when it was so
clear and certain a case that life was so short; not a yard or ell (forty five
inches), but an handbreadth, the breadth of four fingers; or at most a span of
time was allowed to man, whose days are few, like the shadow that declineth,
and the grass that withers; by which figurative expressions the brevity of
human life is described, Psalm 102:11; and
this is the measure made, cut out, and appointed by the Lord himself, who has
determined the years, months, and days of man's life, Job 14:5;
and mine age is as nothing before thee; in the sight
of God, or in comparison of his eternity; not so much as an handbreadth, or to
be accounted as an inch, but nothing at, all; yea, less than nothing, and
vanity; see Isaiah 40:17; that
is, the age or life of man in this world, as the wordF23חלדי "vitale aevum meum", Cocceius; "my
worldly time", Ainsworth. used signifies; for otherwise the age or life of
man, in the world to come, is of an everlasting duration; but the years of this
present life are threescore and ten; ordinarily speaking; an hundred and thirty
are by Jacob reckoned but few; and even a thousand years with the Lord are but
as one day, Psalm 90:4;
verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. As vanity may
signify sin, emptiness, folly, falsehood, fickleness, and inconstancy; for man
is a very sinful creature, empty of all that is good; foolish as to the
knowledge of divine things; he is deceiving and deceived, his heart is deceitful
and desperately wicked; and he is unstable in all his ways: he is "all
vanity"F24כל הבל
"universa, vel omnis vanitas", Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus,
Michaelis, Musculus, Cocceius; so Ainsworth. , as the words may be rendered;
all that he has, or is, or is in him, is vanity; his body, in the health,
beauty, and strength of it, is subject to change; and so are his mind, his
memory, his judgment and affections, his purposes and promises; and so are his
goods and estate, his riches and honours; yea, all the vanity that is in the
creatures, that is, in the vegetable and sensitive creatures, yea, that is in
the whole, world, is in him; who is a microcosm, a little world himself: and
this is true of every man, even in his "best settled"F25נצב "stans", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius;
"quamlibet firmus consistere videatur", Tigurine version, Vatablus;
"though settled", Ainsworth; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
estate; when he stood the most firm, as the word used signifies; it is true of
men of high and low degree, of the wise, knowing, and learned, as well as of
the illiterate and ignorant, Psalm 62:9; even of
those that are in the most prosperous circumstances, in the greatest ease and
affluence, Luke 12:16; David
himself had an experience of it, 2 Samuel 7:1; yea,
this is true of Adam in his best estate, in his estate of innocence; for he was
even then subject to change, as the event has shown; and being in honour, he
abode not long; and, though upright, became sinful, and came short of the glory
of God: indeed, the spiritual estate of believers in Christ is so well settled
as that it cannot be altered; nor is it subject to any vanity.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 39:6 6 Surely every man walks
about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches,
And does not know who will gather them.
YLT
6Only, in an image doth each
walk habitually, Only, [in] vain, they are disquieted, He heapeth up and
knoweth not who gathereth them.
Surely every man walketh in a vain show,.... Or
"in an image"F26בצלם "in
imagine", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator, Cocceius,
Michaelis. ; not "in the image of the Lord", as the Targum; in the
image in which God created man, for that is lost; nor in that which is stamped
on men in regeneration; for every man does not walk in that; rather in the
image of fallen man, in which every man is born and walks: or "in a
shadow"F1"In umbra", Gejerus; "instar
umbrae", Musculus; vid. Hackman. Praecidan. Sacr. tom. 1. p. 82. ; or like
one; to which the days of man's life are often compared, 1 Chronicles 29:15;
and who, for the most part, busies himself in shadowy and imaginary things;
agreeably to all which the poet saysF2
ορω γαρ ημας Sophoclis Ajax, v. 125, 126. ,
"I
see that we who live are nothing else but images, and a vain shadow.'
SomeF3Donesh
in Jarchi in loc. interpret it of "the shadow of death"; and othersF4Jarchi
& Kimchi in loc. & R. Jonah in Miclol Yophi in loc. of
"darkness" itself; and it fitly expresses the state of unregeneracy
and darkness in which every man walks without the grace of God; and which will
end in utter darkness, if that does not prevent it; and which is called "a
walking in the vanity of the mind", Ephesians 4:17.
Here it seems rather to intend the outward show, pomp, and grandeur of every
great man; of emperors, kings, princes, nobles, and the great men of the world;
which is all a vain show, a glittering appearance for a while, a glory that
passeth away, and will not descend after them when laid in the grave, and
oftentimes lasts not so long;
surely they are disquieted in vain; about vain things, as
riches and honours, which are fickle and unstable; and sometimes in vain are
all the carking cares and disquietude of the mind, and toil and labour of the
body, which are here referred to, to obtain these things; some rise early, and
sit up late, and yet eat the bread of sorrow; and if they gain their point, yet
do not find the pleasure and satisfaction in them they promised themselves and
expected;
he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them: according to
Jarchi, the metaphor seems to be taken from a man that has been ploughing and
sowing, and reaping and laying up the increase of the field in heaps, and yet
knows not who shall gather it into the barn, seeing he may die before it is
gathered in; compare with this Luke 12:16; or the
meaning is, when a man has amassed a prodigious deal of wealth together, he
knows not who shall enjoy it, whether a son or a servant, a friend or a foe, a
good man or a bad man, a wise man or a fool, Ecclesiastes 2:18.
Psalm 39:7 7 “And now, Lord, what do I
wait for? My hope is in You.
YLT
7And, now, what have I
expected? O Lord, my hope -- it [is] of Thee.
And now, Lord, what wait I for?.... Look for, or expect,
in this view of things? not long life, since the days of man are so short, and
his age as nothing; not help from man, since he is altogether vanity; not
riches and honour, since they are such poor, fading, perishing things; but the
glories of another world, and the enjoyment of the Lord himself, both in this
and that;
my hope is in thee; the psalmist now returns
to himself, and comes to his right mind, and to a right way of judging and
acting; making the Lord the object of his hope and trust, expecting all good
things, grace and glory, alone from him; and this is the hope which makes not
ashamed.
Psalm 39:8 8 Deliver me from all my
transgressions; Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
YLT
8From all my transgressions
deliver me, A reproach of the fool make me not.
Deliver me from all my transgressions,.... Which
were the cause and occasion of all his distresses, inward and outward; and the
deliverance prayed for includes a freedom from the dominion of sin, which is by
the power of efficacious grace; and from the guilt of sin, which is by the
application of the blood of Christ; and from obligation to punishment for it,
or deliverance from wrath to come, which is through Christ's being made a
curse, and enduring wrath in the room and stead of his people; and from the
very being of sin, which, though it cannot be expected in this life, is
desirable: and the psalmist prays that he might be delivered from
"all" his transgressions; knowing: that if one of them was left to
have dominion over him, or the guilt of it to lie upon him, and he be obliged
to undergo due punishment for it, he must be for ever miserable;
make me not the reproach of the foolish; of a Nabal;
meaning not any particular person; as Esau, according to Jarchi; or Absalom, as
others; but every foolish man, that is, a wicked man; such who deny the being
and providence of God, make a mock at sin, and scoff at the saints: and the sense
of the psalmist is, that the Lord would keep him from sinning, and deliver him
out of all his afflictions, on account of which he was reproached by wicked
men.
Psalm 39:9 9 I was mute, I did not open
my mouth, Because it was You who did it.
YLT
9I have been dumb, I open
not my mouth, Because Thou -- Thou hast done [it].
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth,.... This refers either
to his former silence, before he broke it, Psalm 39:1, or to
what he after that came into again, when he had seen the folly of his
impatience, the frailty of his life, the vanity of man, and all human affairs,
and had been directed to place his hope and confidence in the Lord, Psalm 39:5; or to
the present frame of his mind, and his future conduct, he had resolved upon;
and may be rendered, "I am dumb"; or "will be dumb, and will not
open my mouth"F5לא אפתח "non aperiam", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator,
Gejerus; so Ainsworth. ; that is, not in a complaining and murmuring way
against the Lord, but be still, and know or own that he is God;
because thou didst it; not "because thou
hast made me", as Austin reads the, words, and as the Arabic version
renders them, "because thou hast created me"; though the
consideration of God being a Creator lays his creatures under obligation as to
serve him, so to be silent under his afflicting hand upon them; but the sense
is, that the psalmist was determined to be patient and quiet under his
affliction, because God was the author of it; for though he is not the author
of the evil of sin, yet of the evil of affliction; see Amos 3:6; and it is
a quieting consideration to a child of God under it, that it comes from God,
who is a sovereign Being, and does what he pleases; and does all things well
and wisely, in truth and faithfulness, and in mercy and loving kindness: this
some refer to the rebellion of Absalom, and the cursing of Shimei, 2 Samuel 12:11; or
it may refer to the death of his child, 2 Samuel 12:22; or
rather to some sore affliction upon himself; since it follows,
Psalm 39:10 10 Remove Your plague from
me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
YLT
10Turn aside from off me Thy
stroke, From the striving of Thy hand I have been consumed.
Remove thy stroke away from me,.... The psalmist still
considers his affliction as coming from the hand of God, as his stroke upon
him, and which lay as a heavy burden on him, and which God only could remove;
and to him he applies for the removal of it, who is to be sought unto by his
people to do such things for them; nor is such an application any ways contrary
to that silence and patience before expressed;
I am consumed by the blow of thine hand; meaning
either that his flesh was consumed by his affliction, which came from the hand
of God, or he should be consumed if he did not remove it: he could not bear up
under it, but must sink and die; if he continued to strive and contend with
him, his spirit would fail before him, and the soul that he had made; and
therefore he entreats he would remember he was but dust, and remove his hand
from him; for this is a reason enforcing the preceding petition.
Psalm 39:11 11 When with rebukes You
correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely
every man is vapor. Selah
YLT
11With reproofs against
iniquity, Thou hast corrected man, And dost waste as a moth his desirableness,
Only, vanity [is] every man. Selah.
When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,.... The
psalmist illustrates his own case, before suggested, by the common case and
condition of men, when God corrects them; which he has a right to do, as the
Father of spirits, and which he does with rebukes; sometimes with rebukes of
wrath, with furious rebukes, rebukes in flames of fire, as the men of the
world; and sometimes with rebukes of love, the chastenings of a father, as his
own dear children; and always for iniquity, whether one or another; and not the
iniquity of Adam is here meant, but personal iniquity: and correction for it is
to be understood of some bodily affliction, as the effect of it shows;
thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth; that is,
secretly, suddenly, and at once; as a moth eats a garment, and takes off the
beauty of it; or as easily as a moth is crushed between a man's fingers; so the
Targum;
"he
melts away as a moth, whose body is broken:'
the
Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, and so the metaphrase
of Apollinarius, read, as a spider which destroys itself. The word rendered
"beauty" takes in all that is desirable in man; as his flesh, his
strength, his comeliness, his pleasantness of countenance, &c. all which
are quickly destroyed by a distemper of the body seizing on it; wherefore the
psalmist makes and confirms the conclusion he had made before:
surely every man is vanity; See Gill on Psalm 39:5;
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 39:12 12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear
to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A
sojourner, as all my fathers were.
YLT
12Hear my prayer, O Jehovah,
And [to] my cry give ear, Unto my tear be not silent, For a sojourner I [am]
with Thee, A settler like all my fathers.
Hear my prayer, O Lord,.... Which was, that he
would remove the affliction from him that lay so hard and heavy upon him;
and give ear unto my cry; which shows the distress
he was in, and the vehemency with which he put up his petition to the Lord;
hold not thy peace at my tears; which were shed in great
plenty, through the violence of the affliction, and in his fervent prayers to
God; see Hebrews 5:7;
for I am a stranger with thee; not to God,
to Christ, to the Spirit, to the saints, to himself, and the plague of his own
heart, or to the devices of Satan; but in the world, and to the men of it;
being unknown to them, and behaving as a stranger among them; all which was
known to God, and may be the meaning of the phrase "with thee"; or
reference may be had to the land of Canaan, in which David dwelt, and which was
the Lord's, and in which the Israelites dwelt as strangers and sojourners with
him, Leviticus 25:23; as
it follows here;
and a sojourner, as all my
fathers were; meaning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their posterity; see Genesis 23:4; as
are all the people of God in this world: this is not their native place; they
belong to another and better country; their citizenship is in heaven; their
Father's house is there, and there is their inheritance, which they have a
right unto, and a meetness for: they have no settlement here; nor is their rest
and satisfaction in the things of this world: they reckon themselves, while
here, as not at home, but in a foreign land; and this the psalmist mentions, to
engage the Lord to regard his prayers, since he has so often expressed a
concern for the strangers and sojourners in the land of Israel.
Psalm 39:13 13 Remove Your gaze from me,
that I may regain strength, Before I go away and am no more.”
YLT
13Look from me, and I
brighten up before I go and am not!
O spare me,.... Or "look from me"F6השע
ממני "respice aliorsum a me", Gejerus;
"averte visum a me", Michaelis. ; turn away thy fierce countenance
from me; or "cease from meF7"Desine a me", Pagninus;
"desiste a me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius;
"cessa a me", Vatablus. , and let me alone"; as in Job 10:20; from whence
the words seem to be taken, by what follows:
that I may recover strength; both corporeal and
spiritual:
before I go hence; out of this world by death:
and be no more; that is, among men in the land of the
living; not but that he believed he should exist after death, and should be
somewhere, even in heaven, though he should return no more to the place where
he was; see Job 10:20, when a
man is born, he comes into the world; when he dies, he goes out of it; a phrase
frequently used for death in Scripture; so the ancient Heathens called death
"abitio", a going awayF8Fest. Pomp. apud Schindler. Lexic.
col. 440. .
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》