Psalm 39

William Helder, 1980 ©

1. I said that I would closely guard my ways
   And keep from sinning with my tongue,
   That on my mouth a muzzle I would place
   While evildoers round me throng.
   When, dumb and silent, I then held my peace,
   My grief and woe did but increase.
   
2. Then did my heart grow hot with fiery blaze.
   I cried, “Make me to know my end:
   O LORD, reveal the measure of my days.
   Thou as mere handbreadths didst extend
   My span of fleeting days, so frail and light.
   It is as nothing in Thy sight.
   
3. “Surely a man is nothing but a breath;
   He as a shadow goes his way.
   Surely in vain he struggles till his death:
   He piles up riches while he may,
   Not knowing who will later gather them.
   His striving will not profit him.
   
4. ”What is it that I now shall wait for, LORD?
   In Thee I’ve put my hope and trust.
   From all my sins deliverance afford,
   And let me not by scorn be crushed.
   I’m dumb, and open not my mouth:
   I see It is Thy hand that chastens me.
   
5. “Remove from me the chastisement I fear,
   Lest I should perish through Thy wrath.
   At Thy rebukes, that which a man holds dear
   Will fade and shrivel like a moth.
   For man is merely breath and vanity;
   Yea, like a puff of wind is he.
   
6. “Hear Thou my cry, give ear to my request;
   O LORD, do not my tears ignore.
   For I with Thee am but a passing guest,
   As all my fathers were before.
   O turn away from me Thy watchful eye,
   And give me joy before I die.”