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Psalms 39:1-2

Context

Psalm 39¹

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided,² “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue.³

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.”⁴

39:2 I was stone silent;⁵

I held back the urge to speak.⁶

My frustration grew;⁷

Psalms 39:9

Context

39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth

because of what you have done.⁸

¹sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

²tn Heb “I said.”

³tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

⁴sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

⁵tn Heb “I was mute [with] silence.”

⁶tn Heb “I was quiet from good.” He kept quiet, resisting the urge to find emotional release and satisfaction by voicing his lament.

sn I held back the urge to speak. For a helpful discussion of the relationship (and tension) between silence and complaint in ancient Israelite lamentation, see E. S. Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part I (FOTL), 166-67.

⁷tn Heb “and my pain was stirred up.” Emotional pain is in view here.

⁸tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).

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