Psalms 39:3-13

3 my heart grew hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

4 “Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.^[a]

6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.

8 Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.

9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.

10 Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, you consume their wealth like a moth— surely everyone is but a breath.

12 “Hear my prayer, LORD, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were.

13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again before I depart and am no more.”

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Psalms 39:3-13 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 34

1. Luke 24:32
2. Psalms 1:2; Psalms 48:9; Psalms 77:12; Psalms 119:15
3. Jeremiah 5:14; Jeremiah 20:9; Jeremiah 23:29
4. S Job 14:5; Psalms 90:12
5. S Job 14:2
6. S Genesis 47:9; S Job 7:7; Psalms 103:14
7. S Job 10:20; Psalms 89:45; Psalms 102:23
8. S Job 7:7; Psalms 62:9
9. Job 8:9; Psalms 102:11; Ecclesiastes 6:12; S James 4:14; 1 Peter 1:24
10. James 1:11
11. Psalms 127:2
12. S Job 27:17
13. Luke 12:20
14. S Psalms 9:18; S Psalms 25:5; Psalms 38:15
15. Psalms 6:4; Psalms 51:14; Psalms 51:9
16. Psalms 32:1; Psalms 51:1; Isa 53:5,8,10; Psalms 44:13
17. S Deuteronomy 28:37; Psalms 69:7; Psalms 79:4; Isaiah 43:28; Daniel 9:16
18. S ver 2
19. Psalms 38:13; Job 2:10
20. Isaiah 38:15
21. 2 Chronicles 21:14; Ezekiel 7:9; Ezekiel 24:16
22. S Exodus 9:3; Job 9:34; Psalms 32:4
23. S Deuteronomy 28:20; Isaiah 66:15; Ezekiel 5:15; 2 Peter 2:16
24. Psalms 94:10; Isaiah 26:16
25. Psalms 90:7
26. S Job 13:28; S Isaiah 51:8; Luke 12:33; S James 5:2
27. S Job 7:7
28. S Psalms 17:1
29. S Deuteronomy 1:45
30. S 2 Kings 20:5
31. Leviticus 25:23; 1 Peter 2:11
32. S Genesis 23:4; S Hebrews 11:13
33. S Genesis 47:9; S 1 Chronicles 29:15
34. S Job 10:21; Job 14:10

Footnotes 1

[a]. The Hebrew has "Selah" (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 11.

Psalms 39:3-13

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Images for Psalms 39:3-13

Psalms 39:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

Cross References 34

Footnotes 1