Psalms 39:9

_I WAS DUMB, I OPENED NOT MY MOUTH; BECAUSE THOU DIDST IT._ I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. The sense is 'I have become mute (as to complaints against God); I do not open my mouth; because Thou hast done it.' Not that David ceases to speak in prayer for deliverance from enemies, but he no longer opens his mouth in complaints against God. His silence, in the latter respect, is not the constrained one which he had at first vainly attempted (Psalms 39:1), wherein he kept from utterance the then prevalent promptings of his impatience, but the reverent silence of one who justified God in His dealings, and therefore instinctively repressed the ebullitions of the old man, while he gave free vent to right prayers. This justifies the English version (Psalms 39:2), "I held my pe

9._I was dumb _Here David blames himself, because he had not preserved that silence which, as we have already seen, the violence of his grief forced him to break. When he says then that he was _dumb, _he does not mean this as a commendation of the uniform and persevering restraint which he had exercised over himself. It is rather a correction of his error, as if reproving his own impatience, he had spoken within himself in this way: What doest thou? thou hadst enjoined upon thyself silence, and now thou murmurest proudly against God; what wilt thou gain by this presumption? We have here a very profitable and instructive lesson; for nothing is better fitted to restrain the violent paroxysms of grief, than the recollection that we have to do, not with a mortal man, but with God, who will always maintain his own righteousness in opposition to all that men may say against it in their murmuri...

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...

I WAS DUMB - See the notes at Psalms 39:2. Compare Isaiah 53:7. The meaning here is, that he did not open his mouth to complain; he did not speak of God as if he had dealt unkindly or unjustly with him. I OPENED NOT MY MOUTH - I kept entire silence. This would be better rendered, “I am dumb; I will not open my mouth.” The meaning is, not that he had been formerly silent and uncomplaining, but that he was now silenced, or that his mind was now calm, and that he acquiesced in the dealings of Divine Providence. The state of mind here, if should be further observed, is not that which is described in Psalms 39:2. There he represents himself as mute, or as restrain

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

I WAS DUMB, I OPENED NOT MY MOUTH,.... This refers either to his former silence, before he broke it, Psalms 39:1, or to what he after that came into again, when he had seen the folly of his impatience, the frailty of his life, the vanity of man, and all human affairs, and had been directed to place his hope and confidence in the Lord, Psalms 39:5; or to the present frame of his mind, and his future conduct, he had resolved upon; and may be rendered, "I am dumb"; or "will be dumb, and will not open my mouth" e; that is, not in a complaining and murmuring way against the Lord, but be still, and know or own that he is God; BECAUSE THOU DIDST [IT]; not "because thou hast made me", as Austin reads the, words, and as the Arabic version renders them, "because thou hast created me"; though the conside

To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Jeduthun was one of those who led the sacred song in the house of God in David's day, and, long afterwards, we find the son of Jeduthun still engaged in this holy service. What a blessing it is to be succeeded in the work of God by your children from generation to generation! May that be your privilege, my dear brethren! May your families never lack a man to stand before the Lord God of Israel to sing his praises! This is called, «A Psalm of David.» His life was a very chequered one; sometimes he was very joyous, and then he wrote bright and happy Psalms. But he was a man of strong passions and deep feelings; so at times he was very sad, and then he touched the mournful string. This is a very sorrowful Psalm, but it is full of teaching. How grateful we ought to be that such a man as David ever lived, and that he had such a wonder...

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

Man's life being thus transient, and earthly treasures thus deceitful, the Psalmist turns to God, as the one sure stay in life....