Discovery BoxPsalms 39:1 
ContextFor 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
Psalms 62:1
ContextFor the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
62:1 For God alone I patiently wait; 6
he is the one who delivers me. 7
Psalms 77:1
ContextFor the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.
77:1 I will cry out to God 9 and call for help!
I will cry out to God and he will pay attention 10 to me.
1 sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.
2 tn Heb “I said.”
3 tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”
4 sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the
5 sn Psalm 62. The psalmist expresses his unwavering confidence in God’s justice and in his ability to protect his people.
6 tn Heb “only for God [is] there silence [to] my soul.”
7 tn Heb “from him [is] my deliverance.”
8 sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.
9 tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.
10 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).
