Psalm 39:1-5 NIV

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:5

My days as a handbreadth - My life is but a span; σπιθαμη του βιου . And mine age is as nothing - כאין keein , as if at were not before thee. All time is swallowed up in thy eternity. Verily every man at his best state - נצב אדם כל col adam nitstab , "every man that exists, is vanity." All his projects, plans, schemes, etc., soon come to nothing. His body also moulders with the dust, and shortly passes both from the sight and remembrance of men. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:1

Verse 1 1.I said, I will take heed to my ways. David explains and illustrates the greatness of his grief by this circumstance, that, contrary to his inclination and resolution, he broke forth into the severest complaints. The meaning substantially is, that although he had subdued his heart to patience, and resolved to keep silence, yet the violence of his grief was such that it forced him to break his resolution, and extorted from him, if we might so speak, expressions which indicate that he... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:2

Verse 2 2.I was dumb in silence. He now declares that this resolution of which he has spoken had not been a mere passing and momentary thought, but that he had shown by his conduct that it was indeed a resolution deeply fixed in his heart. He says, then, that he held his peace for a time, just as if he had been deaf, which was a singular manifestation of his patience. When he thus determined to be silent, it was not such a resolution as persons of a changeable disposition, who scarcely ever... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:3

Verse 3 3.My heart became hot within me He now illustrates the greatness of his grief by the introduction of a simile, telling us that his sorrow, being internally suppressed, became so much the more inflamed, until the ardent passion of his soul continued to increase in strength. From this we may learn the very profitable lesson, that the more strenuously any one sets himself to obey God, and employs all his endeavors to attain the exercise of patience, the more vigorously is he assailed by... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:4

Verse 4 4.O Jehovah! cause me to know my end. It appears from this, that David was transported by an improper and sinful excess of passion, seeing he finds fault with God. This will appear still more clearly from the following verses. It is true, indeed, that in what follows he introduces pious and becoming prayers, but here he complains, that, being a mortal man, whose life is frail and transitory, he is not treated more mildly by God. Of this, and similar complaints, the discourses of Job are... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1

I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. There are no grounds for connecting this silence with the abstinence from self-vindication mentioned in the preceding psalm ( Psalms 39:13 , 14). Indeed, it seems to have had a wholly different origin (see the introductory paragraph). I will keep my mouth with a bridle ; i.e. "curb my impatience, restrain and keep in my speech." While the wicked is before me. The Prayer-book Version is better, if less literal,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

The title assigns the psalm to David, and represents him as having committed the composition for musical arrangement to the precentor, or choir-master, of the time, who is then named as Jeduthun, one of the chief musicians in David's service ( 1 Chronicles 16:41 , 1 Chronicles 16:42 ; 1 Chronicles 25:3-6 ). There is no reason to dispute this attribution. The poetic beauty of the composition is great, and the circumstances are such as suit David's early life. The pause-sign,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

Unburdening the heart to God in a time of sore affliction, when nothing can be said to man. Jeduthun, whose name stands at the head of Psalms 39:1-13 , Psalms 62:1-12 , and Psalms 77:1-20 , was one of a musical family entrusted with the conduct of the musical service in the time of David. The psalms having his name at the head were probably intended to be sung by his choir. £ It would thus seem that in the Hebrew service of sacred song the prayers and plaints of the individual... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

Lessons from a funeral. It is toll of Archbishop Leighton that a friend once met him by the way, and said, "You have been to hear a sermon?" His answer was, "I met a sermon—a sermon de facto , for I met a corpse, and rightly and profitably are the funeral rites performed, when the living lay it to heart." This psalm, so often read at deaths and funerals, suggests some precious lessons for such solemn occasions. 1 . A funeral is a time for silence. There is much to think of and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

The afflicted man. The old question of the retributive justice of God lies at the bottom of this psalm. Why should the righteous be afflicted and the wicked prosper, since the sins of the latter are greater and more numerous than those of the former? But he has determined that he will not discuss his difficulties before the wicked, lest he should seem to complain of the Divine ways. But when he can no longer restrain speech, this is what he says, in which we have two main divisions of... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:1

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:2

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 39:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

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