Psalms 39
I Will Watch My Ways
For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.2My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
3“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
4You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
5Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
6And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
7Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.
8I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.
9Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
10You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
11Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
12Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”