Bible Study - Psalm 39

Psalm 39 is another of the psalms of David. It is dedicated in the introduction to one of his three leaders of music, Jeduthun. Some think that another name for this leader is Ethan. See 1 Chronicles 16:41-42. Jeduthun is called “the King’s seer” in 2 Chronicles 35:15, indicating that he was singing God’s Word, as penned by David by God’s inspiration and guidance. 

We know from other parts of our Psalm studies that David had many difficult, challenging times, with King Saul and Absalom, his own son, and with others. God Himself, needed to confront him and discipline him, too, at times of his own weaknesses. David is very honest about his struggles at these times. This psalm is one of those examples. The commentator, Walter Roehrs, calls it “the struggle of faith to subdue fretting and discontent over afflictions” (Concordia Self-Study Commentary, p. 359).

David begins by saying that he would “guard his mouth” - “muzzle it” - so that he would “not sin with his tongue” while “wicked” people were “in his presence.” He did want unbelieving people to hear his complaints against God  and have their own negative views of God reinforced (Psalm 39:1). Again David said, “I was mute and silent; I held my peace.” He was trying his best not to challenge God, but “to no avail.” It did “no good.” He became more distressed, and his feelings were burning within him like a hot fire. Finally, he could not help but “speak up with his tongue” (Psalm 39:2-3).

What David does in Psalm 39:4-8 is to complain to God about how short and full of turmoil life is. His life feels so fleeting, “a mere breath.” “a shadow,” and full of “nothing.” Even if he can “heap up some wealth,” who knows who will end up with it? He wishes “that the Lord would make known his end to him and explain “what is the measure of his days.”

Don’t we have days and times where we feel the same way? We have troubles and frustrations and cannot understand what is going on. We may not say it out loud as David did, but we wonder what God is doing and not doing and how we can cope with such a troubled world. Job is another example of the same struggles and the ups and downs of faith. When tragic losses came to him, He could say, with strong faith, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” And we hear, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong… Job did not sin with his lips” (Job.1:21-22, 2:10). Later on, though, Job became critical of God and challenged Him to explain, and the Lord had to discipline and correct him and call him to repentance and renewed faith.

The same had happened for David.  In Psalm 39:7-11, the Lord has awakened David to realize that he is the one who is doing wrong and transgressing, not God. David knew again that his only “hope” was in the Lord. The Lord needed “to discipline a man,” including David, with “strokes” and “rebukes for his sin.” It felt like “hostility” from “the hand of the Lord,” yet David knew that God “had done it” for his own good. Now David “waits in hope” in the Lord, praying that the Lord would deliver him from his transgressions and not have him be “scorned by the fool who rejects God” (Psalm 14:1).

Once again, “David is mute; he does not open his mouth.” This time he remembers that without God, “all mankind is a mere breath.” What a strong statement that is to humanists today, who are trusting in themselves and all that they can accomplish on their own, with their own human wisdom. David reminds that if God wished it, He could “consume like a moth what is dear to people” (Psalm 39:11).

This is a picture image that is used often in the Old Testament. See Job 13:28: “Man wastes away like a rotten thing; like a garment that is moth-eaten.” Or Isaiah 50:9: “Behold, the Lord helps me… Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.” See what Jesus says in His Sermon on the Mount, too: “Do lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-21). James also warns those trusting in what they have accumulated: “Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.”

In contrast, David echoes what he said in Psalm 62:1-2, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my Rock and my Salvation, my Fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” David simply says, “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears” (Psalm 39:12). He trusts that the Lord does notice his earthly tears and struggles and will be merciful to him. As he said to the Lord in Psalm 56:8-11, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose Word I praise… In God I trust; I shall not be afraid.” (How good it is to know that God knows about our tossing and turning at night and cares about all our burdens and anxieties, too!)

David closes this psalm and his prayer admitting that he is just a “sojourner,” “a guest” in this world, like everyone else. He no longer demands to “know his end” and what all will happen to him (Psalm 39:4). He simply prays that God “will look away” from his sins and struggles, and forgive him, and allow him “to smile again” and have joy in the Lord, before he departs this life (Psalm 39:12-13).

As New Testament Christians, we know that we can “rejoice in the Lord always,” because of all that Jesus has done for us as our Savior” (Philippians 4:4) and that “the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). At the same time, we know that we also, like David, are weak and struggling believers and regularly need the reminder in God’s Word and worship to confess our sins, and ask God for forgiveness and mercy and to trust His promises.

May God help us to guard our own mouths and tongues more, so that we may complain less, and trust our Lord more and encourage others more, rather than griping about them, too. May we be more careful in what we say in the presence of those who don’t believe, as well, so that we are a good, positive witness for our Lord, as David tried to be.