Psalm 39

Psalm 39 KJV (WS)

1 To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. 2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. 3 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, 4 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. 5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. 6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. 7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish. 9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. 10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. 11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. 12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. 13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

Introduction

Can you remember what it was like to get in trouble when you were a kid?

The psalmist’s silence. (vss 1-3b)

Psalm 39:1-3 “1 To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. 2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. 3 My heart was hot within me,”

I said, I wasn’t going to say anything!

But he obviously wants to.

As long as the wicked (some kind of persecutor) is before him, he will be silent.

In order to keep from sinning with my words, I will keep silent.

As though he has a muzzle over his mouth.

The longer he held his silence, the worse it was for him internally.

The psalmist speaks out. (vss 3c-5)

Psalm 39:3-5 “then spake I with my tongue, 4 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. 5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.”

In verse 3, the silence becomes too much for David.

He decides to break his vow from earlier and speaks out.

These verse are well known, and deal with the brevity and frailty of human life.

The question is, why is this the topic that David chooses to break his vow with?

The Psalmist in under attack, and so he wants to know how much longer he has to live with this.

Does he see death as an escape?

He is speaking to God, and he is hoping to move God to action and relief.

David is not suicidal.

He speaks to God of man’s inherent weakness and leaves the obvious part unsaid.

The obvious part is that as weak and ignorant as man is, God is powerful and all-knowing.

How long will God allow David’s attackers to continue?

The psalmist’s meditation. (vss 6-8)

Psalm 39:6-8 “6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. 7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.”

Not only is human life brief, but human effort is also meaningless.

The walking (business) of man is just a vain shew.

Humans get stressed out and worked up over the affairs of a short life.

Our human interests are vanity.

Even if you heap up riches, you don’t know who is going to inherit them.

Verse 7 is the turning point of the Psalm.

Here, David reveals that he understands where his help comes from in life’s times of trouble.

Where else would he look but to God.

Some of David’s problems in life were based in other people.

Other problems, the problems that he is dealing with, here, were due to David’s own sin.

God is the answer for both.

David asks God to deliver him from all of his transgressions.

This is nothing more than a request for forgiveness.

He asks also that God would protect him from the mocking of the wicked.

The psalmist’s renewed speech. (vss 9-11)

Psalm 39:9-11 “9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. 10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. 11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.”

David renews his desire for silence.

He recognized that the trial in his life was the hand of God’s discipline.

He intended to just accept whatever God had for him without dispute.

When God begins to chasten, David cannot remain silent.

He again calls on God to remove the judgment from his life.

“thy stroke” is a clear reference to spanking as a form of discipline.

Stop spanking me doesn’t sound formal enough for our King James Bibles.

David admits that God’s punishment is too much for him to handle.

There is a picture here of the manner in which God punishes.

We think of punishment being swift and short-lived.

David says that’s not the way God works.

God slowly ratchets up the intensity in the hopes that a mild punishment will get our attention.

When it doesn’t, He increases the intensity.

The melting of a moth is a reference to the slow dissipation of the moth rather than instant destruction.

The psalmist’s prayer. (vss 12-13)

Psalm 39:12-13 “12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. 13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.”

What is it that David really fears when it comes to God’s chastisement?

Is it the pain of the punishment?

No, it is the fear of being disowned.

David begs God for a continued relationship.

Hear me.

Give ear.

Hold not thy peace.

David has nowhere else to go but to God.

His life is short and he doesn’t want to spend it wandering without God.