Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 39:1

"I said, I will take heed to my ways, That I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, While the wicked is before me." — Psalms 39:1 (ASV)

My tongue. —To enter into the feeling of the poet we must remember the unrestrained way in which people in ancient Near Eastern cultures give way to grief. It was natural and becoming for him to “roar” (Psalms 38:8 and following) out his indignation or his grief, to mutter (Psalms 1:2 and following) aloud his prayers, to speak out on every impulse. Now he determines to endure in silence and mutely bear the worst, rather than speak what may in the eyes of the impious be construed into a murmur against Divine Providence, into impatience under the Divine decree. (Compare to Psalm 38:13-14.)

With a bridle. —Compare to Deuteronomy 25:4, where the cognate verb occurs. The root-meaning is “stop.” For the metaphor, compare to James 1:26, and Plato, Laws, 3:701, “the argument, like a horse, ought to be pulled up from time to time, and not be allowed to run away, but held with bit and bridle.” (Compare also to Virgil, Æneid, vi. 79.)