A Question (Psalm 39)

I said, “I will guard my ways

That I may not sin with my tongue;

I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle

While the wicked are in my presence.”

I was mute and silent,

I refrained even from good,

And my sorrow grew worse.

My heart was hot within me,

While I was musing the fire burned;

Then I spoke with my tongue:

“LORD, make me to know my end

And what is the extent of my days;

Let me know how transient I am.

Behold, you have made my days as handbreadths,

And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;

Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.             Selah.

Surely every man walks about as a phantom;

Surely they make an uproar for nothing;

He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.”

“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in You.

Deliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the reproach of the foolish.

I have become mute, I do not open my mouth,

Because it is You who have done it.

Remove Your plague from me;

Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.

With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity;

You consume as a moth what is precious to him;

Surely every man is a mere breath.”                           Selah.

“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 like all my fathers.

Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again

Before I depart and am no more.”

NASB