Psalm 39
David resolves to watch his words but his anguish breaks through. He asks God to show him how fleeting life is, each person is but a breath. He asks God to look away so he can find joy before departing.
PsalmsPsalm 39 of 15013 versesBerean Standard Bible
If God speaks to you through Psalm 39, record what He said in Doxa and come back to it.
For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”
I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.
My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.
I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.
Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 42: Where else does the Bible use foreigner and resident?
Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
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Best Prayer Apps 2026: Hallow, Pray.com, PrayerMate & Doxa TestedWhere to keep your prayers, the answers to them, and your testimonies, compared app by app.Cross-references for Psalm 39
“He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.”
“Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.”
“So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.”
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God.”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
Psalm 39 on Doxa
- Cave of Machpelah: Why Abraham Paid 400 Shekels for a Tomb · Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 42
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If God speaks to you through Psalm 39
Doxa is where you record what God has said to you, in the words it came in, weigh it against Scripture with people you trust, and come back to it in the years that follow.
