Psalm 39
Prayer for Wisdom and Forgiveness
To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
01 I said, “I will guard my ways,
Lest I sin with my tongue;
I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
While the wicked are before me.”
02 I was mute with silence,
I held my peace even from good; And my sorrow was stirred up.
03 My heart was hot within me;
While I was meditiating, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
04 “Lord, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.
05 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
06 Surely every man walks about like a shadow;
Surely they [b]busy themselves in vain;
He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.
07 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
08 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
09 I was mute, I did not open my mouth,
Because it was You who did it.
10 Remove Your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
11 When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity,
You make his beauty melt away like a moth;
Surely every man is vapor. Selah
12 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am a stranger with You,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13 Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength,
Before I go away and am no more.”
English text