Psalm 39:3-6 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:6

Surely every man walketh in a vain show ; literally, in an image, or "as an image;" i.e. with a mere semblance of life, but without the reality. Surely they are disquieted in vain . Their restless strivings are to no end, have no result. He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them (comp. Job 27:16 , Job 27:17 ; Ecclesiastes 2:18 , Ecclesiastes 2:21 ). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:3

My heart was hot within me - My mind became more and more excited; my feelings more and more intense. The attempt to suppress my emotions only more and more enkindled them.While I was musing the fire burned - literally, “in my meditation the fire burned.” That is, while I was dwelling on the subject; while I was agitating it in my mind; while I thought about it - the flame was enkindled, and my thoughts found utterance. He was unable longer to suppress his feelings, and he gave vent to them in... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:4

Lord, make me to know mine end - This expresses evidently the substance of those anxious and troubled thoughts Psalms 39:1-2 to which he had been unwilling to give utterance. His thoughts turned on the shortness of life; on the mystery of the divine arrangement by which it had been made so short; and on the fact that so many troubles and sorrows had been crowded into a life so frail and so soon to terminate. With some impatience, and with a consciousness that he had been indulging feelings on... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:5

Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth - literally, “Lo, handbreadths hast thou given my days.” The word rendered “handbreadth” means properly the spread hand; the palm; the hand when the four fingers are expanded. The word is then used to denote anything very short or brief. It is one of the smallest natural measures, as distinguished from the “foot” - that is, the length of the foot; and from the cubit - that is, the length of the arm to the elbow. It is the “shortness” of life,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:6

Surely every man walketh in a vain show - Margin, “an image.” The word rendered “vain show” - צלם tselem - means properly a shade, a shadow; and then, an image or likeness, as shadowing forth any real object. Then it comes to denote an idol, 2 Kings 11:18; Amos 5:26. Here the idea seems to be that of an image, as contradistinguished from a reality; the shadow of a thing, as distinguished from the substance. Man seems to be like an image, a shadow, a phantom - and not a real object, walking... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:3

Psalms 39:3. My heart was hot within me Though I said nothing, I could not but have many affecting thoughts: and “the fire of divine charity, thus prevented from diffusing itself for the illumination and warmth of those around it, presently ascended, in a flame of devotion, toward heaven.” While I was musing While this fire “continued to be fed, and preserved in brightness and vigour, by meditation on the goodness of God, and the ingratitude of man; the transient miseries of time, and the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:4

Psalms 39:4. Lord, make me to know mine end The end of my life, as is evident from the following words; and the measure of my days, what it is How short it is; or, how near is the period of the days of my life; that I may know how frail I am Hebrew, מה חדל אני , meh-chadeel ani, quam desinens sire, quam cito desinam esse, quam parum durem, what a transient, momentary being I am, how soon I shall cease to be, how little a while I shall continue, namely, on earth. He does not mean,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:5

Psalms 39:5. Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth The breadth of four fingers, a certain dimension, a small one, and the measure whereof we have always about us, always before our eyes. We need no rod, no measuring-line, wherewith to take the dimension of our days, nor any skill in arithmetic wherewith to compute the number of them; no, we have the standard of them always before us. “The age of man, or of the world, is but a span in dimension, a moment in duration; nay, it is... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:6

Psalms 39:6. Surely every man walketh Passeth the course of his life; or, goeth about busily or restlessly hither and thither, as יתהלךְ , jithhallech, implies, and as the next verb more plainly expresses: In a vain show Hebrew, בצלם , betzelem, in a shadow, or image. The word is used only twice in the Psalms, here and Psalms 73:20, in both which places it signifies what is imaginary, in opposition to what is real. Man proceeds on in an imaginary, rather than real life: in the... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

Psalm 38-39 The cries of the sickThe psalmist David felt that sometimes punishment for his sins took the form of sickness (e.g. Psalms 6:0) or opposition from those who envied or hated him (e.g. Psalms 25:0). Both elements appear again in the prayer of Psalms 38:0, which, being a confession of sin, was suitable to be offered with certain sacrifices.As the suffering David cries to God for mercy, he admits that, because of his sin, he deserves what he has got (38:1-4). He vividly describes the... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 39:6

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:3

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:4

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:5

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 39:6

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:3

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:4

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:5

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 39:6

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 39:1-13

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