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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