July 12th Psalm 39
A
Psalm of David
Hope
1: 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. 2: I was dumb with silence, I held my
peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. 3: My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire
burned: then spake I with my tongue, 4:
LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I
may know how frail I am. 5:
Behold, 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. 6: Surely every man walketh in a vain
shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not
who shall gather them. 7: And
now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. 8: Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the
reproach of the foolish. 9: I
was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. 10: Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of
thine hand. 11: When thou with
rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away
like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. 12: Hear 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. 13: O spare
me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
To
the chief musician,
Psalm 40
A Psalm of David
A song of
Deliverance
1: I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto
me, and heard my cry. 2: He
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my
feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 3: And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our
God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. 4: Blessed is that man that maketh
the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to
lies. 5: Many, O LORD my God,
are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to
us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and
speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. 6: Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast
thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 7: Then said I, Lo, I come: in the
volume of the book it is written of me, 8:
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. 9: I have preached righteousness in
the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
10: I have not hid thy
righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy
salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great
congregation. 11: Withhold not
thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth
continually preserve me. 12:
For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine
head: therefore my heart faileth me. 13:
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. 14: Let them be ashamed and
confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven
backward and put to shame that wish me evil. 15: Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say
unto me, Aha, aha. 16: Let all
those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy
salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. 17: But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou
art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
To
the chief musician,
Today
we are reading two more Psalms of David Psalm 39 & 40. In Psalm 39 David in
just 12 sentences is speaking to the Lord of his low spiritual state. He
expresses his caution to himself in speaking foolishly because he is in a time
of serious self examination. His heart burns to speak and eventually he cannot
contain himself and he says, The LORD made me to know how long my life would be
and how frail his life was. He says, my life is as long as the width of my hand
and compared to the Lord my age is just a moment. Then he states a devastating
truth he says, every man at his best lives a life of pointlessness. Think of
that! Men show off but their show becomes empty and the riches that they amass
– they never know who will eventually have them. And so Lord, what is my life
for? Then he declares my hope is in you. What he is saying is that everything
is going to come to an end but in resurrection there is the assurance of a new
beginning and a new fruitful life. Then David returns to the present saying
save me from the many times in which I have strayed and don’t let me be told
off by foolish men. Take away the discipline that comes from your hand. The
lives of men are truly full of emptiness. David says hear me O Lord and do not
ignore my tears because you treat me like a stranger. Please spare me so that I
might recover my strength before I die and be no more here. If Psalm 39 was
uttered in the depths of despair them Psalm 40 was uttered after the Lord lifts
him back up again. This Psalm is David’s testimony to the Lords deliverance. He
says I waited patiently for the Lord and he heard my prayer. And he took me up
out of a horrible pit and h set my feet on solid ground. And he put anew song
in my mouth which was a song of praise. Many people will see and hear and fear
the Lord and trust in him and he will be blessed. He will have no respect for
the proud or liars. The Lord has done wonderful things and He thinks of us
constantly. You did not want sacrifices and offerings as much as you wanted one
who would do your will. Then David moves into a Messianic tone in which he
speaks words that could be spoken by Christ himself saying, Look l have come,
in the volume of the book it is written about me, that I delight to do the will
of God and the law of the Lord is in my heart. David says l have declared
righteousness under the Law in the great assembly of Israel. This is probably on those
occasions when the whole nation appears before the Lord. David says you know
that I never kept my peace and I did not keep my righteousness to myself. But I
have preached your faithfulness, salvation, loving kindness and truth to the
great assembly. So therefore do not withhold your tender mercy from me and may
your loving kindness and truth always keep me secure. Because a million evils
surround me and my sin take hold of me so that I cannot even look heavenward
and they are more in number than the hairs on my head and so I get so
disappointed. Please deliver me O Lord and come quickly. May those who seek to
destroy me be ashamed of themselves and thwarted in their evil plans. May all
my brothers who seek your face and who love your deliverance be overjoyed in
you and may they say The LORD is great. Lord l am poor and needy, yet you don’t
forget me. You are my helper and deliverer. Do not delay in coming to me O my
God.
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