Psalms 39:6-13

6 Surely man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nought are they in turmoil; man heaps up, and knows not who will gather!

7 "And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in thee.

8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the scorn of the fool!

9 I am dumb, I do not open my mouth; for it is thou who hast done it.

10 Remove thy stroke from me; I am spent by the blows of thy hand.

11 When thou dost chasten man with rebukes for sin, thou dost consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely every man is a mere breath! [Selah]

12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears! For I am thy passing guest, a sojourner, like all my fathers.

13 Look away from me, that I may know gladness, before I depart and be no more!"

Psalms 39:6-13 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.