"To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was mute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth,
for it is you who have done it.
10 Remove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with rebukes for sin,
you consume like a moth what is dear to him;
surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am a sojourner with you,
a guest, like all my fathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may smile again,
before I depart and am no more!”
Psalm 39
But grief suppressed often means grief increased, and the hidden sorrow burned deep down, gnawing at the roots of his being. This is the force of the words in 3: the more he kept silence, the more the fire within was given fuel and fed. And since one cannot bottle pent-up feelings indefinitely, an outburst is ultimately inevitable: 'then spake I with my tongue' (3). But the question arises, do 4ff represent what burst out when the Psalmist broke silence? This is a pertinent question, and it may be we should rather take these words not as what burst out, but as what he said after he had burst out and that a veil is drawn over the outburst, hot and indignant as it must have been, as it was poured out before the Lord in the secret place. And we may well imagine the gentle but firm dealing God had with His servant, saying, 'Doest thou well to be angry, David?', and pointing out to him that perhaps there were purposes in this discipline which he had not seen, but needed to see, and lessons for him to learn that he needed to learn. And, realising this at last, with the hot flush of distress and agitation abated, he is now ready to see more clearly, and think more truly, as he expresses himself in the worthy and beautiful eulogy which follows (4ff). He is conscious of the mystery of life, especially in relation to his suffering and affliction, and he asks humbly for light on the agonising dilemmas that are upon him. A deep, pervading sense of the insignificance of man's brief life as over against the changeless eternity of God threatens to overcome him, but he finds refuge in the Most High, and meaning and hope, as what is said in the next note will show.