PSALM 1939

The Brevity and Vanity of Life

1 For the leader, for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

2 I said, "I will watch my ways, lest I sin with my tongue;
I will set a curb on my mouth."

3 Dumb and silent before the wicked, I refrained from any speech.
But my sorrow increased;

4 my heart smoldered within me.
In my thoughts a fire blazed up, and I broke into speech:

5 LORD, let me know my end, the number of my days,
that I may learn how frail I am.

6 You have given my days a very short span;
my life is as nothing before you.
All mortals are but a breath. Selah

7 Mere phantoms, we go our way; mere vapor, our restless pursuits;
we heap up stores without knowing for whom.

8 And now, Lord, what future do I have? You are my only hope.

9 From all my sins deliver me; let me not be the taunt of fools.

10 I was silent and did not open my mouth
because you were the one who did this.

11 Take your plague away from me;
I am ravaged by the touch of your hand.

12 You rebuke our guilt and chasten us; you dissolve all we prize like a cobweb.
All mortals are but a breath. Selah

13 Listen to my prayer, LORD, hear my cry; do not be deaf to my weeping!
I sojourn with you like a passing stranger, a guest, like all my ancestors.

14 Turn your gaze from me,
that I may find peace before I depart to be no more.