Go Ahead & Say It!

Psalm 39:1-13 English Standard Version

Have you ever had to bite your tongue or hold your peace? You wanted to say something but didn’t know if you could or should? What about God? Are there things you think you can’t say to the Lord?

That is the situation in which the psalmist finds himself in Psalm 39.

Psalm 39 is linked to Psalm 38 linguistically and thematically.

Psalm 39:title

1. To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun.

2. A Psalm of David.

a. Except for the word lîdûtûn(cf. the superscriptions to Psalms 62 and 77), which remains obscure (Mowinckel, PsSt IV, 16–17; Gunkel and Begrich, 458; Kraus, Psalmen I, 25–26), the Superscription has the same words as those in Psalms 13; 19–21; 31; 40; 41; 64; 109; 139–140.[1]

b. Jeduthun (yeḏû·ṯûn)

i. Yeduthun is probably the name of a famous singer (1 Chr 9:16; 16:38, 41–42), mentioned in several other elegiac poems (Pss 62:1; 77:1), who was associated with Asaph and Heman (1 Chr 25:1; 2 Chr 5:12) and apparently known as a prophet (1 Chr 25:1, 3).[2]

1. 1 Chronicles 25:1 David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was:

c. Psalm 62:title To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

d. Psalm 77:title To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

i. Psalm 88:title A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

Four Truths When Feeling Overwhelmed:

One: It’s Not Healthy to Hold Your Feelings In (Psalm 39:1-3)

Psalm 39:1

1. I said,

a. Psalm 38:16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!”

2. “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue;

3. I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,

a. muzzle n. — a kind of restraint that fits over an animal’s snout and prevents it from eating or biting; especially used on dogs.

4. so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

a. Either because the wicked would use his words against him or his words could be taken negatively against the Lord.

Psalm 39:2

1. I was mute and silent;

2. I held my peace to no avail,

3. and my distress grew worse.

Psalm 39:3

1. My heart became hot within me.

2. As I mused, the fire burned;

3. then I spoke with my tongue:

TWO: Seek to Understand Before Being Understood (Psalm 39:4-6)

Psalm 39:4

1. “O Lord,

2. make me know my end and what is the measure of my days;

3. let me know how fleeting I am!

Psalm 39:5

1. Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

a. handbreadth (time) n.— any unit of measurement based on the length of the human hand; with the extended meaning of a short span of time.

2. and my lifetime is as nothing before you.

3. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!

4. Selah

a. 70 times in Psalms: 3, 4, 7, 9, 20, 21, 24, 32, 39, 44, 46-50, 52, 54, 55, 57, 59-62, 66-68, 75-77, 81-85, 87-89, 140, 143;[3]

b. SELAH (סֶלָה, selah). Likely a musical or liturgical term. The term may refer to silence, pause, or an interlude. However, the exact meaning of the Hebrew term is unknown. This term primarily occurs in the Psalms (e.g., Psa 3, 4, 32, 46, 89, 140) but also in Habakkuk (Hab 3:3, 9, 13). The Septuagint interprets the term as διάψαλμα (diapsalma), likely meaning “pause” or “interlude.”

Psalm 39:6

1. Surely a man goes about as a shadow!

2. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;

a. Surely (3x) (v.5-6)

3. man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

THREE: Know Where to Go (Psalm 39:7-11)

Psalm 39:7

1. “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

a. Psalm 39:6c man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

2. My hope is in you.

Psalm 39:8

1. Deliver me from all my transgressions.

2. Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

a. The psalmist has sinned but is not a part of the wicked or the foolish.

b. Psalm 38:16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!”

Psalm 39:9

1. I am mute;

2. I do not open my mouth,

a. Psalm 38:13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

3. for it is you who have done it.

a. Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10–13).[4]

b. The psalmist doesn’t know what to say because he believes that his suffering is caused by the Lord.

Psalm 39:10

1. Remove your stroke from me;

a. Stroke – plague

i. Psalm 38:11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.

b. From me - “from against me”

2. I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

a. blow n. — a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon.

Psalm 39:11

1. When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin,

a. Psalm 38:1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!

2. you consume like a moth what is dear to him;

3. surely all mankind is a mere breath!

a. Repeat of v.5c; 4x surely (vv.5-6, 11)

4. Selah

FOUR: Focus on Who Not What (Psalm 39:12-13)

Psalm 39:12

1. “Hear my prayer, O Lord,

a. Plea, plead (tĕpillâ, pālal hitpael). This law-court language pictures the suppliant as standing before a court and asking for mercy, on one’s own behalf or on someone else’s. Applied to prayer (4:1 [2]; 5:2 [3]; 32:6; 66:19–20; 72:15), it thus suggests an appeal for God to intervene, for oneself or for someone else. It implies an appeal to Yhwh’s nature as someone who treats people in the right way, and it implicitly asks that the suppliant or the person on whose behalf one prays be given his or her rights. Yet it also implies that a suppliant “does not employ the language of an accuser,” but that “the one praying adopt the posture and attitude of a suppliant.”[5]

2. and give ear to my cry;

a. Cry for help (šāwaʿ, šawʿâ, šewaʿ). These words for “cry” have spelling similar to the word for “deliver” (yāšaʿ), helping them to convey the idea of calling out with a particular aim, to get help from God [6]

3. hold not your peace at my tears!

a. to be unhearing v. — to be or become unhearing towards another.

i. “It is a Rabbinic saying that there are three kinds of supplication, each superior to the other; prayer, crying, and tears. Prayer is made in silence, crying with a loud voice, but tears surpass all. ‘There is no door through which tears do not pass,’ and, ‘The gates of tears are never locked.’ ”[7]

4. For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.

a. Abraham’s self-description in relation to the Hittites who occupied the land where he lived (Gen. 23:4). David also generalizes this description of the ancestors (1 Chron. 29:15)[8]

b. 1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.

c. 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Psalm 39:13

1. Look away from me,

2. that I may smile again,

3. before I depart and am no more!”

a. Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

b. The suppliant does not expect to escape from eventual death but does hope for an escape from what prevents the enjoyment of life before death.[9]

Conclusion

Psalm 39:7 is the center of this psalm.

Chiastic, symmetrical or concentric circle pattern:

A. Silence (Psalm 39:1-3)

B. Request: help me to know (Psalm 39:4-6)

C. My hope is in you (Psalm 39:7)

B. Request: deliver me (Psalm 39:8-11)

A. Hear my prayer (Psalm 39:12-13)

Psalm 39:7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

The psalmist moves from a what to a who.

As a foreigner and sojourner (v.12), he had no hope of material gain or permanent residence.

Leviticus 25:23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.

Our “only hope” is in the Lord, and even infinitesimal hope in him will never be disappointed. In fact, the almost despairing hope of Psalm 39 was not disappointed, as we will see in Psalm 40.[10]

Mowinckel, S. Mowinckel, Psalmenstudien (6 vols.; 1921–24; repr. Amsterdam: Schippers, 1961) PsSt S. Mowinckel, Psalmenstudien (6 vols.; 1921–24; repr. Amsterdam: Schippers, 1961) [1]Gerstenberger, E. (1988). Psalms Part 1: With an Introduction to Cultic Poetry (Vol. 14, p. 165). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. [2]Terrien, S. (2003). The Psalms: strophic structure and theological commentary (p. 331). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. [3] Koehler, L., Baumgartner, W., Richardson, M. E. J., & Stamm, J. J. (1994–2000). The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 756). Leiden: E.J. Brill. [4]Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press. Yhwh Yahweh, or Lord in English Bible versions [5]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 598). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. [6]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 592). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. [7]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 562). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. [8]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 563). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. [9]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 1, p. 559). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. [10]Futato, M. D. (2009). The Book of Psalms. In Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (pp. 151–152). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.