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Psalm 39

Prayer for Wisdom and Forgiveness

To the leader: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
¹ I said, ‘I will guard my ways
   that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
   as long as the wicked are in my presence.’
² I was silent and still;
   I held my peace to no avail;
my distress grew worse,
³   my heart became hot within me.
While I mused, the fire burned;
   then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ ‘Lord, let me know my end,
   and what is the measure of my days;
   let me know how fleeting my life is.
⁵ You have made my days a few handbreadths,
   and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight.
Surely everyone stands as a mere breath.
          Selah
⁶   Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
   they heap up, and do not know who will gather.

⁷ ‘And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
   My hope is in you.
⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions.
   Do not make me the scorn of the fool.
⁹ I am silent; I do not open my mouth,
   for it is you who have done it.
¹⁰ Remove your stroke from me;
   I am worn down by the blows^* of your hand.

¹¹ ‘You chastise mortals
   in punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is dear to them;
   surely everyone is a mere breath.
          Selah

¹² ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord,
   and give ear to my cry;
   do not hold your peace at my tears.
For I am your passing guest,
   an alien, like all my forebears.
¹³ Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again,
   before I depart and am no more.’