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PSALM 39

STROPHE DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. The superscriptions of the MT are not original (absent in the DSS). Therefore, they are not from the original, inspired author but from later editors/compilers. For more information on the subject, see Introduction to the Psalms IV. A.
    For the term "Jeduthun," see Introduction to the Psalms, IV. B. #6.
   
   
2. At first this Psalm is confusing. It starts out in a veiled literary technique, almost like a divine secret that cannot be shared/understood by outsiders to a faithful (but still sinful) walk with YHWH, Ps. 39:8 (cf Ps. 19:12-13).
   
   
3. The divine secret and human question is the transitoriness of human life. Mankind is so frail, fragile, temporary, ignorant, and usually focuses his/her attention on the wrong things (cf. Ps. 39:6, 11).
   
   
4. This Psalm in many ways reminds me of Ecclesiastes (the futility of life if there is no God). The psalmist characterizes himself in surprising ways.
   1. like a stranger, Ps. 39:12 (BDB 158)
   2. like a sojourner, Ps. 39:12 (BDB 444)
   
   
5. Psalm 39:13 is still a mystery to me. The shocking truth of our fallen condition is that
   1. we are attracted to God
   2. His holiness frightens us and repels us, all at once!
      There is a real mental conflict between the transitoriness of the human situation and the eternality of our God who created us for fellowship (i.e., Gen. 1:26-27; 3:8). We cannot be happy without knowing and loving Him. But we are broken and temporal. He is perfect and eternal.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 39:1-6
 ¹I 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."
 ²I was mute and silent,
 I refrained even from good,
 And my sorrow grew worse.
 ³My heart was hot within me,
 While I was musing the fire burned;
 Then I spoke with my tongue:
 ⁴"Lord, make me to know my end
 And what is the extent of my days;
 Let me know how transient I am.
 ⁵Behold, 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.
 ⁶Surely 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."

39:1-6 The wicked live only for today, for themselves, but the faithful follower knows he lives and speaks for YHWH. However, without the aid of the Spirit (cf. Isa. 6:9-10; 43:8; Jer. 5:21; Ezek. 12:2; Matt. 13:13-15; John 9:39-41) the wicked cannot comprehend

1. their own spiritual and physical condition
2. the truth of God

They ask the wrong questions and focus on the wrong things.

39:1 "I will guard" Notice that the verb (BDB 1036, KB 1581, Qal cohortative) is repeated. The psalmist should not speak his thought about life and God in the presence of intrenched unbelief (i.e., Ps. 141:3; Matt. 7:6). This strophe cannot be proof-texted as a Scripture against witnessing to others. But it is true that some issues, some doctrines should be avoided in our conversations with unbelievers at first because of possible misunderstanding or confusion. A biblical worldview requires

1. the Spirit (cf. John 6:44,65)
2. a receptive heart (Matthew 13)
3. revelation in an understandable form
4. time/effort

The UBS Handbook (p. 374) interprets the silence as the psalmist not wanting to complain about his life in the presence of the wicked.

▣ "That I may not sin with my tongue" The sin here must be understood in context as speaking truth that the wicked cannot receive (cf. Ps. 141:3; Isa. 6:9-10; Matt. 7:6).

39:2-3 Apparently the psalmist tried not to think on these issues himself. But revelation caused him to address God with his question and concern about the fleetingness and transitoriness of human life.

39:2 "I refrained even from good" The MT of this line is "I held my peace to no avail" (i.e., without success; lit. "no good," BDB 373). This is ambiguous and different translations explain it differently. In context it refers to the psalmist's desire to speak but felt he should not (possibly meaning he could not share his discouragement at his life's situation). The sinner would not understand his lament! His reluctance to speak did not help the situation.

If life is so short, what should fallen humans focus on? The fate of the righteous and the unrighteous seems the same (cf. Eccl. 2:14-16,19,26; 9:2-3).

39:3 "the fire burned" This verb (BDB 128, KB 145, Qal imperfect) is the same that describes Jeremiah's compulsion to speak YHWH's word (cf. Jer. 20:9).

39:4-6 These are the issues the psalmist was "musing" (BDB 211, cf. Ps. 5:1) about.

1. the uncertainty of life
2. the fleetingness of life
3. the false focus (i.e., fame, riches) of life
4. the unfairness of life

39:5 "handbreadths" This term (BDB 381) is one of several Hebrew measurements from the human body.

1. arms outstretched
2. finger tip to elbow (see SPECIAL TOPIC: CUBIT)
3. fingers outstretched
4. four fingers together
5. one digit of a finger

▣ "my lifetime as nothing in Your sight" This is not asserting that YHWH does not care but that human life is fleeting and insignificant when compared to YHWH (cf. Isa. 40:15).

▣ "a mere breath" This phrase (BDB 481 construct BDB 210 I) is another connection to Ecclesiastes (cf. Eccl. 1:2; 12:8; lit. "vapor," "breath," "vanity," see SPECIAL TOPIC: VAIN, EMPTY, NOTHINGNESS). This term is used thirty times in Ecclesiastes and only nine in the Psalms (cf. Ps. 39:5,6,11; 144:4) and three in Proverbs.

▣ "Selah" See note at Ps. 3:2 and Introduction to Psalms, VII.

39:6 "phantom" This is literally "shadow" (BDB 853). It can refer to clouds but is used regularly in a figurative sense of the transitoriness of life (cf. Job 8:9; 14:2; Ps. 102:11; 109:23; 144:4). This is the issue of this Psalm! Psalm 8 would be a good theological parallel.

The MT has "surely for naught are they in turmoil." The Hebrew term translated "turmoil" is in doubt.

1. make noise ‒ יהמיון, the UBS Text Project, gives this an "A" rating
2. riches ‒ המין, NEB
3. vain things of wealth ‒ divide Hebrew differently, אך הבל יהמיון, this is the suggestion of the NET Bible, p. 898, footnote 25

As with most emendations, which one of these you choose does not change the meaning of the strophe. Hebrew poetry is slippery!

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEBREW POETRY

▣ "He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them" This is so similar to the thought of Qoheleth in Eccl. 2:18-23. See SPECIAL TOPIC: WEALTH.

The NASB Study Bible (p. 778) has a good comment on this verse.

"Could almost serve as a summary of Ecclesiastes."

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 39:7-11
 ⁷"And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
 My hope is in You.
 ⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions;
 Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
 ⁹I have become mute, I do not open my mouth,
 Because it is You who have done it.
 ¹⁰Remove Your plague from me;
 Because of the opposition of Your hand I am perishing.
 ¹¹With 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.

39:7-11 This strophe is a general summary of how YHWH deals with His faithful followers amidst all the questions and confusion of life in a fallen world.

1. they wait for YHWH
2. they hope in YHWH (#1,2 are the theological key to peace, joy, and hope in our mysterious and transitory lives)
3. they pray for deliverance from YHWH – BDB 664, KB 717, Hiphil imperative (cf. Ps. 51:14; 79:9)
4. they pray not to be foolish — BDB 962, KB 1321, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense
5. YHWH guides our words and life (cf. Psalm 139)
6. they seek the removal of YHWH's judgment — BDB 693, KB 747, Hiphil imperative

In Ps. 39:10-11 the reasons for YHWH's actions are spelled out.

1. YHWH is active in their lives
2. YHWH's judgments are disciplinary not just punitive
3. YHWH takes away the things we trust in and cherish more than Him! Everything except YHWH is transitory! Do you get it?!

39:8 "foolish" The root is BDB 614. See SPECIAL TOPIC: FOOLISH, #3.

The Hebrew noun (BDB 619, KB 669, see note at Ps. 38:11) is used often of a disease sent by YHWH.

1. plague – Gen. 12:17; Exod. 11:1; 1 Kgs. 8:37; Ps. 38:11; 39:10
2. strike/stroke – Ps. 89:23; Isa. 53:8
3. scourge – Ps. 89:23

YHWH can remove it because He sent it! It is always hard, if not impossible, to know the source of an illness, event, crisis, etc. in this life. The OT's theology attributed all causality to YHWH as a theological way of asserting monotheism (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ONE CAUSALITY). But from the progressive revelation of the NT several options arise.

1. God does send things
   1. for punishment
   2. for spiritual growth (cf. Rom. 8:28-30; Heb. 5:8)
2. God allows (not sends) things to occur
3. we live in a fallen world where bad things happen (statistical evil)

I have chosen, by faith (as did the psalmist), to trust, hope, and wait (cf. Ps. 38:15; 39:7) on God in the midst of the mysterious, unfair, often evil events of life. I do not understand "why" or "why now" or "why this" or "how long," but I do by faith believe that God is with me, for me, and that there can be a purpose and effective outcome for all things (cf. Rom. 8:28-30,31-39)! It is a worldview, a faith stance, a theological orientation!

SPECIAL TOPIC: WHY DO CHRISTIANS SUFFER?

▣ "the opposition of Your hand" Hand is an idiom for power to act (see SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND). As to the theological issue see Ps. 32:4 and 38:2. God as a disciplining, loving parent is wonderful imagery (cf. Prov. 3:11-12). He is active in our lives because He does not want us to destroy ourselves and others. The "hand" of discipline has a positive purpose (cf. Heb. 12:5-13).

39:11 "Selah" See full note on this recurrent word in Psalms, but with no definitive definition. See Introduction to the Psalms, VII, B. #1.

The MT has "what is dear to him" (lit. "desire," BDB 326). KB suggests the root means "beauty" (NKJV). NET Bible suggests an emendation which has the same meaning (p. 899, #2).

The LXX is obviously based on a different Hebrew text.

What mankind "desires" or "thinks is beautiful" will quickly pass away because humans have such a short lifespan.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: PSALM 39:12-13
 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 like all my fathers.
 ¹³Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may smile again
 Before I depart and am no more."

39:12-13 As is common in the Psalms, it closes with prayer requests.

1. Hear – BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal imperative
2. Give ear – BDB 24, KB 27, Hiphil imperative
3. Do not be silent – BDB 361, KB 357, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense, cf. Ps. 28:1; 35:22; 83:1; 109:1
4. Turn Your gaze away – BDB 1043, KB 1609, Hiphil imperative, see Job 7:17-19; 10:20-21; 14:6 (i.e., in the sense of judgment)
5. That I may smile again – BDB 114, KB 132, Hiphil cohortative, see Job 9:27; 10:20

39:12 The last two lines of this verse address the tension between

1. special covenant people
2. continuing sinners with fleeting lives (cf. 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 119:19,54; Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 2:11).

Remember, this is the fog of the OT (i.e., performancer based covenant, cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). The gospel of Jesus Christ will address many of these issues and questions about life, purpose, and eternity (i.e., grace based covenant, cf. Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-36)!

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE GOSPEL

▣ "I am a stranger" This word/concept bothers me. It seems to denote one who does not know God or is not known by God. But in context it refers to a visitor in a tent who stays one or two nights and departs. It is another example of figurative language used to describe and bemoan the transitoriness of human life.

39:13 In light of the holiness of YHWH, this life becomes distressed (cf. Job 14:6). The pull to be like YHWH (cf. Matt. 5:48; Lev. 19:2) is overwhelming. Only in Jesus can a peace come for us to be in the presence (i.e., gaze, i.e., associated with YHWH's judgment, cf. Job 7:19; 14:6; Isa. 22:4) of a holy God!

In light of this verse, Peter's request in Luke 5:8 makes sense!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Why does the psalmist want to be silent in the presence of the wicked (Ps. 39:1)?
2. Explain in your own words the implication of Ps. 39:4.
3. What is a "handbreadth"?
4. Explain Ps. 39:11b. Why would YHWH take everything precious from one of His followers?
5. Does Ps. 39:11c imply that YHWH does not care about individual humans?
6. What does Ps. 39:12, c and d, mean? Are we strangers to YHWH?
7. Explain in your own words the meaning or implication of Ps. 39:13.

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