39
The Vanity of Life.
For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will Aguard my ways
That I Bmay not sin with my tongue;
I will guard Cmy mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.”
I was Amute 1and silent,
I 2refrained even from good,
And my 3sorrow grew worse.
My Aheart was hot within me,
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue:
Lord, make me to know Amy end
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how Btransient I am.
Behold, You have made Amy days as handbreadths,
And my Blifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Surely every man 1at his best is 2a mere Cbreath. 3
Selah.
Surely every man Awalks about as 1a phantom;
Surely they make an Buproar for nothing;
He Camasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
 
“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My Ahope is in You.
ADeliver me from all my transgressions;
Make me not the Breproach of the foolish.
“I have become Amute, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is BYou who have done it.
10 ARemove Your plague from me;
Because of Bthe opposition of Your hand I am 1perishing.
11 “With Areproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;
You Bconsume as a moth what is precious to him;
Surely Cevery man is a mere breath.
Selah.
 
12 AHear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent Bat my tears;
For I am Ca stranger with You,
A Dsojourner like all my fathers.
13 ATurn Your gaze away from me, that I may 1smile again
Before I depart and am no more.”
39: 1 Chr 16:41 A 39:1 1 Kin 2:4; 2 Kin 10:31; Ps 119:9 B 39:1 Job 2:10; Ps 34:13; James 3:5-12 C 39:1 Ps 141:3; James 3:2 A 39:2 Ps 38:13 1 39:2 Lit with silence 2 39:2 Lit kept silence 3 39:2 Lit pain A 39:3 Ps 32:4; Jer 20:9; Luke 24:32 A 39:4 Job 6:11; Ps 90:12; 119:84 B 39:4 Ps 78:39; 103:14 A 39:5 Ps 89:47 B 39:5 Ps 144:4 1 39:5 Lit standing firm 2 39:5 Or altogether vanity C 39:5 Job 14:2; Ps 62:9; Eccl 6:12 3 39:5 Selah may mean: Pause, Crescendo or Musical interlude A 39:6 1 Cor 7:31; James 1:10, 11; 1 Pet 1:24 1 39:6 Lit an image B 39:6 Ps 127:2; Eccl 5:17 C 39:6 Ps 49:10; Eccl 2:26; 5:14; Luke 12:20 A 39:7 Ps 38:15 A 39:8 Ps 51:9, 14; 79:9 B 39:8 Ps 44:13; 79:4; 119:22 A 39:9 Ps 39:2 B 39:9 2 Sam 16:10; Job 2:10 A 39:10 Job 9:34; 13:21 B 39:10 Ps 32:4 1 39:10 Or wasting away A 39:11 Ezek 5:15; 2 Pet 2:16 B 39:11 Job 13:28; Ps 90:7; Is 50:9 C 39:11 Ps 39:5 A 39:12 Ps 102:1; 143:1 B 39:12 2 Kin 20:5; Ps 56:8 C 39:12 Lev 25:23; 1 Chr 29:15; Ps 119:19; Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11 D 39:12 Gen 47:9 A 39:13 Job 7:19; 10:20, 21; 14:6; Ps 102:24 1 39:13 Or become cheerful