Psalms 39:0 ¶ To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.
David directs this psalm to Jeduthun, one of the three lead worship leaders appointed to serve at the tabernacle.
1 Chronicles 25:6 “All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king’s order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.”
Jeduthun and his sons were noted for their skill with the harp.
1 Chronicles 25:3 “Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD.”
Psalms 39:1 ¶ I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
David opens this psalm with a commitment to be careful not to sin with his tongue. He is especially determined to control his mouth when confronted by wicked men, and he likens it to using a bridle to control a horse. The Hebrew for “bridle” is even stronger; it references a muzzle. David is determined to keep his mouth shut.
I certainly identify with David’s heart. I believe control of my tongue has been the area in my life with which I have struggled most.
Spurgeon: “To avoid sin one had need be very circumspect, and keep one's actions as with a guard or garrison. Unguarded ways are generally unholy ones.”
Psalms 39:2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
Psalms 39:3 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
As David tried to follow through on his commitment, he found that even though he held his peace, his emotions began to get the better of him. The fire in his heart grew until he had to speak.
Again, I identify with David. It’s so hard not to express outrage and denounce the wicked in no uncertain terms. It’s hard to remember that “there, but for the grace of God go I.” It’s hard to remember when confronted with the wicked that they are souls that are precious in the sight of the LORD just as surely as we are. Instead of anger, we should be filled with grief and the desire to see them saved. Our hearts should mirror the heart of God.
Ezekiel 18:23 “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”
Psalms 39:4 LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
Psalms 39:5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Thankfully, when David spoke, it was to the LORD. He called out to the LORD to keep him aware of the frailty of life and how short a time we have to serve Him. He realizes that no matter how long we live here on earth or how prosperous we may be, it is nothing in light of God’s eternal being and riches.
Spurgeon: “David would fain be assured that his days would be soon over and his trials with them; he would be taught anew that life is measured out to us by wisdom, and is not a matter of chance. As the trader measures his cloth by inches, and ells, and yards, so with scrupulous accuracy is life measured out to man.”
Selah = A pause, an opportunity to think and meditate.
Ironside quote on thinking: “The devil tries to keep people from musing, from thinking. Take that word so common today, “amusement.” People are amusement crazy. The devil has all kinds of schemes to amuse people. Cut that word up, “Muse”-to think. “A-muse”-not to think. The “A” there is the negative, and it simply means this, to stop thinking. That is why the theaters are crowded; that is why people love the dance; that is why people go to all these ungodly things of the world-to keep from thinking. If the devil can keep people from thinking, he will have them all doomed and damned eventually. But God wants us to think. His Word is a challenge to us to think.”
Psalms 39:6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Psalms 39:7 ¶ And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
David compares men to phantoms (from Hebrew for “vain shew”) that heap up riches without even knowing for sure who will get it in the end.
In light of that truth, he asks the Lord (as his master) a question, “What is my hope?” And he quickly answers himself, “My hope is in You.”
David is referencing an important truth that is so overlooked today. All the earthly riches one accumulates in a lifetime profit him little. It is upon heavenly treasure that our hearts should be focused and striving for, treasure that is eternal and cannot be taken away from you.
Matthew 6:19–21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Psalms 39:8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
Psalms 39:9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
Psalms 39:10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
Psalms 39:11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
David then asks the LORD to deliver him from all his sins, to help him be an overcomer. He asks God not to let him become a disgrace to Him before the wicked (from Hebrew for “foolish”).
It seems that David is experiencing God’s hand of judgment for sin in his life. That judgment seems so severe that he feels the need to remind God that he is no more than a moth before Him.
Courson: “Rather than ask that the Lord deal with his accusers, David asks that the Lord deal with his own transgressions.”
Selah – Time for another pause, another opportunity to think and meditate.
Psalms 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Psalms 39:13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
David begs the LORD to hear his prayer and not ignore his tears. They are tears of repentance and sorrow over the fact that he feels like a stranger before the LORD. To be a stranger and a sojourner like his fathers before him was not good because they were out of relationship with the LORD far longer than they enjoyed a good relationship with Him. He begs the LORD to spare him and let him once again feel the comfort of His presence before he dies.
That is another strong motivation for the Christian. I want the LORD to be at home in my heart. I want to feel the peace of fellowship, not the shame of disobedience when it comes time to go home—whether in the rapture or at death.
Constable quoting Lewis: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to arouse a deaf world.”
Psalms 40:0 ¶ To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
Another beautiful psalm from the heart of David.
Psalms 40:1 ¶ I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
Psalms 40:2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
Psalms 40:3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
David opens this psalm reflecting about how the LORD had answered his prayers. He notes that he had waited with an expectant heart (from Hebrew for “patiently”) for the LORD to respond. He praised the LORD for bringing him out of a place of danger and establishing him firmly in a safe and secure place. He had filled his heart with a new song of praise to God. David knew that many people would learn to trust and be in awe of the LORD by witnessing how He took care of David.
That is an important truth. Our lives can be a powerful testimony before others that make them want to personally experience a relationship with the LORD.
Psalms 40:4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
From personal experience, David declares that the man that trusts in the LORD is happiest. That man will have no respect for one who is proud or follows that which is false, e.g. idols.
Webster defines “proud” as: “Haughty and contemptuous or brutal in behavior or language; overbearing; domineering; grossly rude or disrespectful… characterized by insolence; insulting….”
Psalms 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
I like the CJB for this verse: “How much you have done, ADONAI my God! Your wonders and your thoughts toward us — none can compare with you! I would proclaim them, I would speak about them; but there’s too much to tell!
God loves us and is ever acting in ways to bless us and draw us to Him in faith and obedience.
Psalms 40:6 ¶ Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Psalms 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Psalms 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
David notes that the LORD has “opened his ears” and made him realize that sacrifice and offering aren’t what the LORD most desires; He desires our faith and obedience. David’s response is to declare that he delights to do God’s will so much that he has memorized God’s word. Again, the psalmist speaks of a personal relationship with God.
The writer of Hebrews, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, applied these words of David to Jesus, and Jesus affirmed it after His resurrection.
Hebrews 10:7–10 “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Luke 24:15 & 27 “And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them….And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Psalms 40:9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
Psalms 40:10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
David has boldly and publicly praised the LORD before the people. He’s publicly declared God’s faithfulness to him and the ways He has delivered him so many times. He has praised the LORD publicly for his lovingkindness and proclaimed the truth of God’s word before the people.
David’s actions reflect one whose heart is truly connected to God in a personal relationship. It is natural for the children of God to want to share with others their love for the LORD and their gratitude for all that He has done for them.
Psalms 40:11 ¶ Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
Psalms 40:12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
After spending time praising and thanking the LORD for all He has done for him, David asks that the LORD yet again show him mercy and compassion. He asks the LORD to continue to lovingly protect him. Once again, he is surrounded by evil and struggling with sin; he is overwhelmed to the point that he feels utterly forsaken.
Psalms 40:13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
Psalms 40:14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
Psalms 40:15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
David begs the LORD to deliver him quickly. He calls for the LORD to disappoint his enemies in their efforts to kill him or harm him. He asks that their taunting be for nought.
Psalms 40:16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
On the other hand, David prays for all that seek God as LORD to rejoice and be glad. It should be natural for those that love the salvation of God to continually praise Him for it. The LORD is great whether or not we magnify Him, but it is important for us to testify to His greatness by living in submission to Him.
Psalms 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
David closes the psalm with the thought that though he is poor and needy, the LORD is watching out for him. He is confident that God will help him and deliver him from his enemies, but he pleads that God do so quickly.