Psalms 39:13

_O SPARE ME, THAT I MAY RECOVER STRENGTH, BEFORE I GO HENCE, AND BE NO MORE._ O spare me - literally, 'look away from me;' 'turn away (thy angry look) from me' х_ HAASHA`_ (H8159) _ MIMENIY_ (H4480)]. THAT I MAY RECOVER STRENGTH, х_ BAALAG_ (H1082)] - literally, 'that I may exhilarate (my countenance)' (Hengstenberg). 'That, I may recover my bright look,' when thou hast 'turned away from me' thy stern look. Job was before the Psalmist's mind (Job 7:19; Job 10:20; also 14:6). BEFORE I GO HENCE, AND BE NO MORE - (Job 7:8;...

13_Let me alone, that I may recover strength. _Literally, it is, _cease from me, _and therefore some explain it, Let there be a wall raised betwixt us, that thy hand may not reach me. Others read, as a supplement, the word _eyes; _but as to the sense, it matters little which of the expositions be adopted, for the meaning is the same, That David entreats God to grant him a little relaxation from his trouble, that he might recover strength, or, at least, enjoy a short respite, before he depart from this world. This concluding verse of the psalm relates to the disquietude and sinful emotions which he had experienced according to the flesh; for he seems in the way of complaining of God, to ask that at least time might be granted him to die, as men are wont to speak who are grievously harassed by their affliction. I admit, that he speaks in a becoming manner, in acknowledging that there is no...

7-13 There is no solid satisfaction to be had in the creature; but it is to be found in the Lord, and in communion with him; to him we should be driven by our disappointments. If the world be nothing but vanity, may God deliver us from having or seeking our portion in it. When creature-confidences fail, it is our comfort that we have a God to go to, a God to trust in. We may see a good God doing all, and ordering all events concerning us; and a good man, for that reason, says nothing against it. He desires the pardoning of his sin, and the preventing of his shame. We must both watch and pray against sin. When under the correcting hand of the Lord, we must look to God himself for relief, not to any other. Our ways and our doings bring us into trouble, and we are beaten with a rod of our own making. What a poor thing is beauty! and what fools are those that are proud of it, when it will c...

Verse Psalms 39:13. _O SPARE ME_] Take me not from this _state_ of _probation_ till I have a thorough preparation for a _state of blessedness_. This he terms _recovering his strength _- being restored to the _favour_ and _image_ of God, from which he had fallen. This should be the daily cry of every human spirit: Restore me to thine image, guide me by thy counsel, and then receive me to thy glory! ANALYSIS OF THE THIRTY-NINTH PSALM This Psalm was apparently written on the same occasion as the preceding. The psalmist is still suffering as before, yet is silent and patient; but the suffering at last becoming very sharp, he could hold his peace no longer: then he spoke. And we have reason to be thankful that he broke silence, as whoever considers the weighty truths which he spoke must allow....

O SPARE ME - The word used here - from שׁעה _shâ‛âh_ - means “to look;” and then, in connection with the preposition, “to look away from;” and it here means, “Look away from me;” that is, Do not come to inflict death on me. Preserve me. The idea is this: God seemed to have fixed his eyes on him, and to be pursuing him with the expressions of his displeasure (compare Job 16:9); and the psalmist now prays that he would “turn away his eyes,” and leave him. THAT I MAY RECOVER STRENGTH - The word used here - בלג _bâlag_ - means, in Arabic, to be bright; to shine forth; and then, to make cheerful, to enliven one’s countenance, or to be joyful, glad. In Job 9:27, it is rendered “comfort;”

EXPOSITION THE psalmist, vexed and disgusted with life, feeling a desire to murmur and complain, but aware that his words are watched, and his wicked enemies ready to make use of them against him, has resolved on maintaining an entire silence—at any rate, while the ungodly are in his sight (Psalms 39:1, Psalms 39:2), but is unable to keep to his resolve. Despite himself, he bursts out into speech—a speech of bitter complaint (Psalms 39:4). "How long has he got to endure this life so unsatisfactory, so full of vanity?" The outburst relieves him, and he continues in a gentler strain, recognizing God's hand in the griefs and woes of life, entreating his help, and finally asking to be spared a little

O SPARE ME,.... Or "look from me" f; turn away thy fierce countenance from me; or "cease from me g, and let me alone"; as in Job 10:20; from whence the words seem to be taken, by what follows: THAT I MAY RECOVER STRENGTH; both corporeal and spiritual: BEFORE I GO HENCE; out of this world by death: AND BE NO MORE; that is, among men in the land of the living; not but that he believed he should exist after death, and should be somewhere, even in heaven, though he should return no more to the place where he was; see Job 10:20, when a man is born, he comes into the world; when he dies, he goes out of it; a phrase frequently used for death in Scripture; so the ancient Heathens called death "abitio", a going away h. f השע ממני "respice alio

This Psalm gives a description of David's experience and conduct when stretched upon a sick-bed. He appears to have felt impatience working within him, which I am sorry to say is a very common disease with most of us when God's hand is heavy upon us. Yet David struggled against his impatience, though he felt it, he would not know it, lest he should thereby open the mouths of his enemies, and cause them to speak evil of his God. Let us imitate his restraint if we resemble him in the temptation to impatience. Psalms 39:1. _I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue:--_ This government of the tongue is a most important part of our ways; it in a very essential part of holy discipline, yet we have heard of one saint who said that he had lived for seventy years, and had tried to control his tongue, but that he had only begun to understand the art when h

Psalms 39 Deep Soul Exercise in View of Man's Frailty and Nothingness _ 1. The vanity of life (Psalms 39:1)_ 2. Self-judgment and prayer (Psalms 39:7) This Psalm is connected closely with the preceding one and shows deep soul exercises. In the midst of trial, with God's hand resting upon the sufferer, he had been silent before his enemies. Before the Lord he did not maintain silence but pours out his heart, confessing the vanity of his fleeting life which appears to him as a hand-breadth and altogether vanity. Beautiful is Psalms 39:7. “And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in Thee.” All else the saint waits for in

XXXIX. PRAYER OF A PIOUS ISRAELITE IN DISTRESS. Psalms 39:3. The poet, afflicted though he is, is silent in presence of the wicked, lest they should impugn or ridicule God's righteous government of the world. But silence is unendurable. PSALMS 39:1. Read, I will _set_ a muzzle on my mouth (LXX). Psalms 39:2. The LXX suggests a better text: I am bowed down with misery, I am far from welfare. PSALMS 39:4. The Psalmist begs God to teach him how brief, uncertain, and vain life is. PSALMS 39:5. Read, Surely