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I Will Watch My Ways
Psalm 39 is a prayer-poem about guarded speech, inner distress, and the shortness of human life. The speaker begins by holding back words, then turns to Yahweh with honest questions, confession, and a plea for mercy.
Understanding the passage
Read these words in context
In this psalm, the speaker first resolves not to sin with his tongue while the wicked are present. Silence only increases sorrow, so he prays to Yahweh about life’s frailty, human emptiness, sin, rebuke, tears, and the need for God to hear and spare him.
Psalms 39:1–13Main takeaway
This psalm teaches that when silence, sorrow, and human frailty weigh on us, we may bring truthful prayer and humble hope to Yahweh.
Explore the poem and its images
01Guarded words and stirred sorrowThe psalm opens with a decision to watch one’s ways and avoid sinning with the tongue, especially while the wicked are present.
Explanation
The psalm opens with a decision to watch one’s ways and avoid sinning with the tongue, especially while the wicked are present. But silence does not solve everything. The speaker becomes mute, even holding back good words, and his sorrow grows stronger inside him.
02Silence turns into prayer about life’s brevityAs the speaker meditates, his inner pain burns until he finally speaks to Yahweh. He asks to know his end and how frail he is.
Explanation
As the speaker meditates, his inner pain burns until he finally speaks to Yahweh. He asks to know his end and how frail he is. Life is described as only hand widths, and each person as a breath. Human busyness and gathering wealth are shown as uncertain and passing.
03Hope in God and a plea for deliveranceAfter naming life’s emptiness, the psalm turns to hope: ‘My hope is in you.’ The speaker asks for deliverance from transgressions and not to become the reproach of the foolish.
Explanation
After naming life’s emptiness, the psalm turns to hope: ‘My hope is in you.’ The speaker asks for deliverance from transgressions and not to become the reproach of the foolish. His silence now rests in the belief that God has acted, even while he suffers under God’s hand.
04Rebuke, tears, and a request to be sparedThe psalm says God rebukes and corrects people for iniquity, and again calls every person a breath.
Explanation
The psalm says God rebukes and corrects people for iniquity, and again calls every person a breath. The closing prayer is urgent and personal: Yahweh is asked to hear, to notice tears, and to spare the speaker so that he may recover strength before his life ends.
Questions to explore
01Why does the speaker first choose silence, and what happens when he keeps quiet?
Look at the link between guarding the tongue, the presence of the wicked, and the way sorrow grows within him.
02What pictures does this psalm use to describe human life as short and uncertain?
Notice the images of hand widths, breath, shadow, and not knowing who will gather what a person has stored up.
03How does the prayer move from pain to hope?
Trace the change from inner burning and suffering to the clear statement, ‘My hope is in you,’ and the requests that follow.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Psalms 39:1–13
1I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”
2I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.
3My heart was hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned. I spoke with my tongue:
4“Yahweh, show me my end, what is the measure of my days. Let me know how frail I am.
5Behold, you have made my days hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.” Selah.
6“Surely every man walks like a shadow. Surely they busy themselves in vain. He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather.
7Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.
8Deliver me from all my transgressions. Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.
9I was mute. I didn’t open my mouth, because you did it.
10Remove your scourge away from me. I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity, you consume his wealth like a moth. Surely every man is but a breath.” Selah.
12“Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
13Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go away and exist no more.”