Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 39

I said - This refers to a resolution that he had formed. He does not say, however, at what time of his life the resolution was adopted, or how long a period had passed from the time when he formed the resolution to the time when he thus made a record of it. He had formed the resolution on some occasion when he was greatly troubled with anxious thoughts; when, as the subsequent verses show, his mind was deeply perplexed about the divine administration, or the dealings of God with mankind.

It would seem that this train of thought was suggested by his own particular trials (Psalms 39:9–10), from which he was led to reflect on the mysteries of the divine administration in general, and on the fact that man had been subjected by his Creator to so much trouble and sorrow—and that, under the divine decree, human life was so short and so vain.

I will take heed to my ways - Namely, regarding this matter. I will be cautious, circumspect, prudent. I will not offend or cause pain to others. The particular thing referred to here was the resolution not to give voice to the thoughts that were passing through his mind regarding the divine administration. He felt that he was in danger, if he stated what he thought on the subject, of saying things that would do harm, or that he would have reason to regret, and he therefore resolved to keep silent.

That I sin not with my tongue - That I do not utter sentiments that will be wrong, and that I shall have reason to repent; sentiments that would do harm to those who are already disposed to find reason for complaint against God, and who would thus be supplied with arguments to confirm them in their views.

Good men often have such thoughts passing through their minds—thoughts reflecting on the government of God as unequal and severe. If these thoughts were expressed, they would tend to confirm the wicked and the skeptical in their views. These are thoughts that good men hope, regarding themselves, to be able to calm through meditation and prayer, but which would do only unmitigated harm if communicated to others, especially to wicked people.

I will keep my mouth with a bridle - The word used here means rather a “muzzle,” or something placed “over” the mouth. The bridle is to restrain or check or guide the horse; the muzzle was something to bind or fasten the mouth so as to prevent biting or eating (Deuteronomy 25:4): You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the corn. See the notes at 1 Corinthians 9:9. The meaning here is that he would restrain himself from uttering what was passing through his mind.

While the wicked is before me - In their presence. He resolved to do this, as suggested above, lest if he should utter what was passing through his own mind—if he should state the difficulties regarding the divine administration that he saw and felt, if he should give expression to the skeptical or hard thoughts that occurred to him at such times—it would only serve to confirm them in their wickedness and strengthen them in their alienation from God.

A similar state of feeling on this very subject is referred to by the psalmist in Psalms 73:15, where he says that if he were to utter what was really passing through his mind, it would greatly pain and offend those who were the true children of God, and would fill their minds with doubts and difficulties that might never occur to them: If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I shall offend against the generation of your children.

As illustrations of this state of feeling in the minds of good men, and as evidence that its existence in the mind—even in the severest and most torturing form, as in the psalmist's case—is not proof that the man in whose bosom these feelings arise is not a truly pious man, I offer the following extracts. These express the feelings of two of the most sincere and devoted Christian men who ever lived, both eminently useful and, in an eminent degree, ornaments to the Church: Cecil and Payson.

“I have read all the most acute, learned, and serious infidel writers, and have been really surprised at their poverty. The process of my mind has been such on the subject of revelation that I have often thought Satan has done more for me than the best of them, for I have had, and could have produced, arguments that appeared to me far more weighty than any I ever found in them against revelation.” - Cecil.

Dr. Payson says in a letter to a friend: “There is one trial that you cannot know experimentally: it is that of being obliged to preach to others when one doubts everything and can scarcely believe that there is a God. All the atheistical, deistical, and heretical objections that I encounter in books are childish babblings compared with those that Satan suggests, and that he urges upon the mind with a force that seems irresistible. Yet I am often obliged to write sermons and to preach when these objections beat upon me like a whirlwind and almost distract me.”

I was dumb with silence - . The addition of the words “with silence” means that he was entirely or absolutely mute; he said nothing at all. The idea is that he did not allow himself to give utterance to the thoughts that were passing in his mind regarding God's dealings. He kept his thoughts to himself and endeavored to suppress them within himself.

I held my peace, even from good - I said nothing. I did not even say what I might have said in vindication of God's ways. I did not even endeavor to defend the divine character, or to explain the reasons for God's dealings, or to suggest any considerations that would tend to calm the feelings of complaint and dissatisfaction that might be rising in the minds of other men as well as my own.

And my sorrow was stirred - The anguish of my mind; my trouble. The word “stirred” here, rendered in the margin as “troubled,” means that the very fact of attempting to suppress his feelings—the purpose to say nothing in the case—was the means of increased anguish. His trouble on the subject found no outlet for itself in words, and eventually it became so unbearable that he sought relief by giving utterance to his thoughts and by coming to God to obtain relief. The state of mind referred to here is one that often occurs when a person broods over their own troubled thoughts and dwells upon things that are in themselves improper and rebellious. We are under no necessity of endeavoring to vindicate the psalmist in what he did here; nor should we take his conduct in this respect as our example.

He evidently, on reflection, regarded this as wrong and recorded it not as a pattern for others, but as a faithful transcript of what was passing at the time through his own mind. Yet, wrong as it was, it was something that often occurs even in the minds of good people. Even they, as in the cases referred to above, often have thoughts about God and His dealings that they do not dare to express, and that it would do harm to express.

They, therefore, hide them in their own hearts and often experience just what the psalmist did—increased trouble and perplexity from the very purpose to suppress them. They should go immediately to God. They may say to Him what would not be proper to say to men. They may pour out all their feelings before Him in prayer, with the hope that in such acts of praying, and in the answers that they will receive to their prayers, they may find relief.

My heart was hot within me – My mind became more and more excited; my feelings more and more intense. The attempt to suppress my emotions only ignited them further.

While I was musing the fire burned – literally, “in my meditation the fire burned.” That is, while I was dwelling on the subject, while I was agitating it in my mind, while I thought about it – the flame was ignited, and my thoughts found expression. He was no longer able to suppress his feelings, and he gave vent to them in words. Compare Jeremiah 20:9; Job 32:18–19.

Then spake I with my tongue – That is, in the words that are recorded in this psalm. He gave vent to his pent-up feelings in the language that follows. Even though there was a feeling of murmuring and complaining, he sought relief in stating his real difficulties before God, and in seeking from Him direction and support.

Lord, make me to know my end - This clearly expresses the substance of those anxious and troubled thoughts (Psalms 39:1–2) which he had been unwilling to voice. His thoughts turned to the shortness of life, the mystery of the divine arrangement that made it so short, and the fact that so many troubles and sorrows had been crowded into a life so frail and so soon to end.

With some impatience, and aware that he had been indulging feelings on this subject that were not proper and would cause harm if expressed publicly, he now pours out these feelings before God. He asks what is to be the end of this, how long it is to continue, and when his own sorrows will cease. It was an impatient desire to know when the end would be, coupled with a spirit of unwillingness to submit to the arrangements of Providence that had made his life so brief and appointed so much suffering.

And the measure of my days, what it is - How long I am to live; how long I am to bear these accumulated sorrows.

That I may know how frail I am - Margin: “What time I have here.” Professor Alexander renders this: “when I shall cease.” So DeWette. The Hebrew word used here—חדל châdêl—means “ceasing to be;” hence, “frail;” then, destitute, left, forsaken. An exact translation would be, “that I may know at what (time) or (point) I am ceasing, or about to cease.” It is equivalent to a prayer that he might know when these sufferings—when a life so full of sorrow—would come to an end. The language is an expression of impatience, an expression of a feeling that the psalmist knew was not right in itself and would cause harm if expressed publicly. However, the intensity of his feelings would not permit him to restrain it, and therefore, he expresses it before God.

Similar expressions of impatience regarding the sufferings of such a short life, with so little to alleviate its sorrows, can be seen greatly amplified in Job 3:1-26, Job 6:4–12, Job 7:7, and Job 14:1-13. Before we blame the sacred writers for indulging in these feelings, let us carefully examine our own hearts and recall what has passed through our own minds when considering the mysteries of the divine administration. Let us remember that one primary purpose of the Bible is to record the actual feelings of people—not to vindicate them, but to show what human nature is, even in the best circumstances, and what the human heart is when it is still only partially sanctified.

Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth—literally, “Look, you have given my days as handbreadths.” The word translated “handbreadth” properly means the spread hand, the palm, and the hand when the four fingers are expanded. The word is then used to denote anything very short or brief. It is one of the smallest natural measures, as distinguished from the “foot”—that is, the length of the foot—and from the cubit—that is, the length of the arm to the elbow. It is the shortness of life, therefore, that is the subject of painful and complaining reflection here.

Who has not been in a state of mind to sympathize with the feelings of the psalmist? Who is there who does not often wonder, when he thinks of what he could and would accomplish on earth if his life extended to one thousand years, and when he thinks of the great interests at stake concerning another world which God has made dependent on such a short life? Who can always so calm his feelings as to utter no expressions of impatience that life is so soon to end? Who is there who reflects on the great interests at stake and has not asked why God has not given man more time to prepare for eternity?

And mine age—Or, my life. The word used here—חלד cheled—properly means “duration of life,” lifetime; and then, life itself (Job 11:17).

Is as nothing—That is, it is so short that it seems to be nothing at all.

Before thee—When set against you; that is, in comparison with you. Compare Isaiah 40:17: All nations before him are as nothing; that is, when set against him, or in comparison with him.

When the two are placed together, the one seems to be as nothing in the presence of the other. So the life of man, when placed by the side of the life of God, seems to be absolutely nothing.

Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.—The margin says, “settled.” The idea is that every man is constituted vanity. Literally, “All vanity every man is constituted.” There seems to be nothing but vanity, and this is the result of a divine constitution or arrangement. The idea expressed in our common version, “at his best state,” however true in itself, is not in the original. The thoughts in the original are:

1. that all people are vanity—that is, life is so short, and man accomplishes so little, that it seems to be perfect vanity; and
2. that this is the result of the divine constitution under which man was made.

It was the fact that man has been so made which caused so much trouble to the mind of the psalmist.