Psalms 39
What Happens in This Chapter
David decides to stay quiet so he will not say something wrong. But his sad thoughts keep growing until he finally speaks. He asks God to show him how short life is, and he admits that people spend their lives chasing things they cannot keep. He ends by asking God to hear him and to ease up on him.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
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.
1I said, "I will watch what I do. I will not sin with my words. I will guard my mouth like a horse wearing a strap, while bad people are near me."
2I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
2So I stayed quiet. I did not even say good things. But my sadness grew bigger inside me.
3My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
3My heart felt hot inside me. The more I thought, the more it burned. At last I spoke out loud:
4LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.
4"LORD, show me how my life will end. Show me how many days I have. Help me see how short my life really is.
5Behold, 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.
5You made my days about as long as a hand is wide. My whole life is nothing next to you. Even a man at his very best is only a puff of breath. Selah.
"Selah" is a Hebrew word in the song. No one is sure what it meant. It may have marked a pause in the music.
6Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
6People go about like shadows that do not last. They rush and worry for nothing. A man piles up money, and he does not know who will get it.
7And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
7So now, Lord, what am I waiting for? You are the one I hope in.
8Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
8Save me from all the wrong things I have done. Do not let foolish people laugh at me.
9I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
9I did not say a word. I kept my mouth shut, because you are the one who did this.
10Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
10Please stop hurting me. Your hand is heavy, and I am worn out.
11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
11You correct people when they do wrong. What they love most fades away, the way a moth eats cloth. Every person is only a puff of breath. Selah.
The KJV says "vanity" here, but it does not mean being proud. It means something that vanishes fast, like a breath in cold air.
12Hear 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.
12Hear my prayer, LORD. Listen to my cry for help. Do not be silent when I cry. I am only a visitor here with you. I am passing through, as all my family did before me.
13O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
13Please look away from me, so I can be glad again. Soon I will go, and I will not be here anymore."
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