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.
- How does David keep himself in check?
- How did the Lord deliver David?
- How does David pray for deliverance?
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