EXPOSITION OF PSALM 39
Psalm 39

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The superscription reads "To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David" (cp. superscriptions to Psalms 62 & 77). David is here identified as this psalm's writer – under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, its Author (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). The "chief musician" was the man responsible for the music in temple worship (1 Chronicles 25:1ff). In David's day he was "Jeduthun", whose name meant "praising" – what a fit name for a hymn leader! This name also may have been that of the tune to which this psalm was to be sung. David penned this psalm in an unspecified time of great affliction. It may be divided as follows: the troubled saint's 1. resolve to be silent before the wicked (v.1); 2. heartache caused by godly silence (vv.2-3a); 3. appeal to God in such a circumstance (vv.3b-13).

I. Resolve to be silent before the wicked (v.1). There are times when God afflicts His people for their own edification (as in Psalm 119:71). It may be good in such trials to express our thoughts to fellow believers, who would understand and pray for us (as in James 5:16). But it is advisable to remain silent before the wicked in such trials. They would not understand, and would probably confirm themselves in their mistaken thoughts regarding God, and find further reason to rejoice against the righteous.

39:1 "I said, ..." The meaning is not that something was merely uttered. Rather, something was purposed in what was uttered. The psalmist here spoke very deliberately:

"... 'I will guard my ways, / Lest I sin with my tongue; ..." Or, "I will exercise great caution and prudence so that I give no occasion to the wicked to have a wrong thought regarding God."

"... I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, / While the wicked are before me.'" A "bridle" (as in KJV) is for controlling something. The psalmist will not merely control what he says, but rather silence what he could say. This is one of those instances in which truly "Silence is golden!" Christ was rightly considered marvelous thing when He demonstrated it (Matthew 27:12-14).

II. Heartache caused by godly silence (vv.2-3a). The psalmist 1. expresses the degree of his silence (v.2a), 2. declares the sorrow this silence caused (v.2b), and 3. describes the intensity of his sorrow (v.3a).

39:2 "I was mute with silence, / I held my peace even from good; ..." That is, "I was so silent toward the wicked that I did not even defend the rightness of God in His dealings with me." This is the case of one who, like Christ, has "committed Himself to Him who judges righteously" (1 Peter 2:23).

"... And my sorrow was stirred up." This sorrow is "inward pain". It here is caused by outward silence. And the longer he was silent, the more agitated his sorrow became.

39:3 "My heart was hot within me; / While I was musing, the fire burned. ..." When the lips of a troubled saint are cold with godly silence, his heart will be hot with burning sorrow. Silence is a terrible thing for a sufferer! When the heart must be vented, ascertain that it is to God, as David here did (vv.3b-ff).

III. Appeal to God in such a circumstance (vv.3b-13). The saint in times of trouble should appeal to God. In the psalmist's appeal, he 1. expresses impatience with suffering (vv.4-6), 2. declares his hope in Jehovah alone (v.7), 3. requests deliverance from his own transgressions and from his enemies' reproach (v.8), 4. submits to God's sovereignty over even his own afflictions (v.9), 5. acknowledges that the afflictions have accomplished their purpose (v.10f), 6. confesses himself to be an alien to this world (v.12), and 7. prays for restoration with God (v.13).

"... Then I spoke with my tongue: ..." And he was as deliberate with this utterance as he formerly was with his silence.

39:4 "'LORD, make me to know my end, / And what is the measure of my days, / That I may know how frail I am." This last phrase may mean "what time I have here" (KJV margin). David knows the end of this present life is the end of earthly suffering for saints, and prays to know when that end will be. Such impatience with suffering is not right in itself. But it has been expressed by various saints (e.g., Elijah in 1 Kings 19:4).

39:5 "Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, ..." A "handbreadth" was one of the shortest measures among the ancients, being only the width of four fingers, and much smaller than a "foot" and a "cubit".

"... And my age is as nothing before You; ..." The life of a man, when compared to the life of God, seems to be nothing at all.

"... Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. ..." The Hebrew word translated vapor has for its basic meaning "breath, wind", and points to that which is "vanity". At your very best in your own eyes you are worthless in God's!

"... Selah" Or, "Pause and think about that!"

39:6 "Surely every man walks about like a shadow; ..." We possess only the semblance of being: we appear for but a short time and then vanish away (James 4:14b; 1 Corinthians 7:31b).

"... Surely they busy themselves in vain; / He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them." We cannot be certain who will receive when we die the goods we accumulated while we lived (see Luke 12:19f).

39:7 "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? / My hope is in You." The psalmist now ends his complaint by casting aside all reliance in self and hoping in Jehovah alone. Thankfully "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us" (Hebrews 6:19f). Christ will in glory end all our earthly troubles (Revelation 21:4): "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

39:8 "Deliver me from all my transgressions; / Do not make me the reproach of the foolish." Our sin is the cause of all our troubles (as in Psalm 38:3), and our troubles cause the wicked to reproach us. When we are delivered from all our sin and into pure blessedness, the wicked will cease to mock us.

39:9 "I was mute, I did not open my mouth, ..." Although he had not sinned in expressing his complaint to the wicked (vv.1f), he had perhaps acted unadvisedly in expressing it to God (vv.4-6). But now he is silent even before God – for this reason:

"... Because it was You who did it." If God has done it, it is right! The psalmist recognizes that all his troubles had resulted from his transgressions, and that God had therefore acted justly in afflicting him with them. God had both honored His word by rebuking the sinner and corrected the sinner in so doing (v.11). Blessed is the man who recognizes the sovereignty of God in everything that happens in his life – both in afflicting and saving.

39:10 "Remove Your plague from me; / I am consumed by the blow of Your hand." The chastening hand of God afflicts the sinner with a plague that reduces him to nothing. But that righteous plague is removed from all who repent of their sin.

39:11 "When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, / You make his beauty melt away like a moth; / Surely every man is vapor." Conviction of sin from God destroys all that man sinfully considers beautiful (such as his self-righteousness), like a moth destroys a piece of cloth, so that man may see what a vanity he is. (See a description of this in Job 33:15-22.)

"... Selah" Or, "Pause and think about that!"

39:12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD, ..." The psalmist acknowledges that God's rebukes have laid him bare, and now pleads that His sins be forgiven, including his impatience and petulance while under the hand of God.

" And give ear to my cry; ..." The "prayer" intensifies into a "cry" – loud enough to be heard even in heaven!

"... Do not be silent at my tears; ..." The "cry" is joined with "tears" – and who can resist tears? Surely not the God who will put our tears into His bottle and record them in His book (Psalm 56:8)!

"... For I am a stranger with You, / A sojourner, as all my fathers were." The psalmist acknowledges himself, like his patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, an alien in this present world, and a citizen of the heavenly country (Hebrews 11:8-16).

39:13 "Remove Your gaze from me, ..." These words appear to be taken from Job's lament, "My adversary sharpens His gaze on me" (Job 16:9). The psalmist prays that God no more would be an adversary to him.

"... that I may regain strength, / Before I go away and am no more.'" The Hebrew word translated strength means "to gleam, smile". The sufferer knows he shall do so in glory. But he also desires to do so also on this earth. And he will do so through the gladdening mercies he will find in Christ (as in Psalm 21:1-6)!

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