Psalms 39:2-12

2 I kept quiet, not saying a word, not even about anything good! But my suffering only grew worse,

3 and I was overcome with anxiety. The more I thought, the more troubled I became; I could not keep from asking:

4 "Lord, how long will I live? When will I die? Tell me how soon my life will end."

5 How short you have made my life! In your sight my lifetime seems nothing. Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind,

6 no more than a shadow. All we do is for nothing; we gather wealth, but don't know who will get it.

7 What, then, can I hope for, Lord? I put my hope in you.

8 Save me from all my sins, and don't let fools make fun of me.

9 I will keep quiet, I will not say a word, for you are the one who made me suffer like this.

10 Don't punish me any more! I am about to die from your blows.

11 You punish our sins by your rebukes, and like a moth you destroy what we love. Indeed we are no more than a puff of wind!

12 Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry; come to my aid when I weep. Like all my ancestors I am only your guest for a little while.

Psalms 39:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, [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 Ethan {s}. 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.

{s} Vid. Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 513, 805.