Psalms 39:13

13 Turn your gaze from me, so I can smile again before I depart and cease to exist.

Psalms 39:13 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 39:13

O spare me
Or "look from me" F6; turn away thy fierce countenance from me; or "cease from me F7, and let me alone"; as in ( Job 10:20 ) ; from whence the words seem to be taken, by what follows:

that I may recover strength;
both corporeal and spiritual:

before I go hence;
out of this world by death:

and be no more;
that is, among men in the land of the living; not but that he believed he should exist after death, and should be somewhere, even in heaven, though he should return no more to the place where he was; see ( Job 10:20 Job 10:21 ) , when a man is born, he comes into the world; when he dies, he goes out of it; a phrase frequently used for death in Scripture; so the ancient Heathens called death "abitio", a going away {h}.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 (ynmm evh) "respice aliorsum a me", Gejerus; "averte visum a me", Michaelis.
F7 "Desine a me", Pagninus; "desiste a me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "cessa a me", Vatablus.
F8 Fest. Pomp. apud Schindler. Lexic. col. 440.

Psalms 39:13 In-Context

11 With rebukes you discipline people for their guilt; like a moth, you destroy what makes them attractive; yes, everyone is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)
12 Hear my prayer, ADONAI, listen to my cry, don't be deaf to my weeping; for with you, I am just a traveler passing through, like all my ancestors.
13 Turn your gaze from me, so I can smile again before I depart and cease to exist.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.