Psalm 39 explained: A Short Life and a Long Silence

Silence that burns (vv. 1-3)

He promised himself to stay quiet around people who did wrong, perhaps so he would not voice bitter complaints they could seize on. Holding it in only made his pain burn hotter, until he finally spoke, and it came out as a prayer.

Life is a breath (vv. 4-6)

He asks to see his life's end, which most interpreters take as a plea to truly grasp how short life is rather than to learn the date he will die. He calls a lifetime a handbreadth, the width of a hand, and a passing breath, with people rushing to pile up wealth without knowing who will end up with it.

Hope and a plea for mercy (vv. 7-11)

Since nothing in this fleeting life can be counted on, he says his hope is in God alone. He sees his suffering as coming from God's hand, links it to his own wrongdoing, and asks God to stop the blows and not let fools mock him.

A guest asking for relief (vv. 12-13)

He calls himself a foreigner and temporary resident with God, like someone living on land that is not his own, as his ancestors were. Translations word his last request differently, but it is a blunt plea for God to ease off and spare him so he can recover before he dies, and the psalm ends there without resolution.

Key verse: Psalm 39:5

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether his breaking silence was a lapse from his vow into complaint or a healthy turn from bottled-up anger to honest prayer.

Something to think about

What changes, if anything, when you remember that your own life is short?