Comment – The author of Psalm 39 intends to watch over his way of acting and speaking so as not to sin when he is faced with an impious man. The psalmist thought that God punished the wicked who on the contrary returns stronger while he is put in the condition of having to keep silent, without being able to prevent his evil action for this. Feeling oppressed he would like to react with anger and holding a grudge, but he cannot, he asks God to make him humble to understand how fleeting the life of every man is, peace makes its way then, as if by magic, in his heart and makes him asking to be freed from any sin committed, understanding that it is indispensable for him to be helped by God to avoid falling into infidelity by giving it over to the fool, he wishes to remain mild in the face of any arrogance he has suffered.
Psalm 39 complete
[1] To the choir master, Iditun. Psalm. Di Davide.
[2] I said: “I will watch over my conduct so as not to sin with my tongue; I will put a brake on my mouth while the wicked stands before me. "
[3] I remained silent in silence: I was silent without good, his luck exasperated my pain.
[4] My heart burned, when I thought about it the fire broke out; then I spoke:
[5] “Reveal to me, Lord, my end; what is the size of my days and I will know how short my life is ".
[6] See, in a few palms you measured my days and my existence before you is nothing. Only a breath is every man who lives,
[7] as a shadow is the man who passes; only a breath that agitates, accumulates wealth and does not know who collects it.
[8] Now what am I waiting for, Lord? My hope in you.
[9] Deliver me from all my faults, do not make me a mockery of the fool.
[10] I am silent, I do not open my mouth, because it is you who act.
Recommended readings- Psalm 76: complete, commentary
- Psalm 62: complete, commentary
- Psalm 102: complete, commentary
- Psalm 6: complete, commentary
- Psalm 20: complete, commentary
[11] Take your blows away from me: I am destroyed under the weight of your hand.
[12] By chastening his sin you correct man, you corrode his treasures like woodworm. Every man is nothing but a breath.
[13] Hear my prayer, Lord, give ear to my cry, do not be deaf to my tears, for I am a stranger, a foreigner like all my fathers.
[14] Avert your gaze, which I breathe, before I leave and no longer is.
