What Is the Measure of My Days?
39 To the choirmaster: to vJeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 I said, “I will wguard my ways,
that I xmay not sin with my tongue;
I will yguard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was zmute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My aheart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, bmake me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and cmy lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely dall mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man egoes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing1 they are in turmoil;
man fheaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
gMy hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
hDo not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 iI am mute; I do not open my mouth,
jfor it is you who have done it.
10 kRemove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
with lrebukes for sin,
you mconsume like a nmoth what is dear to him;
osurely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 p“Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am qa sojourner with you,
qa guest, like all my fathers.
13 rLook away from me, that I may smile again,