Salmos 39

BLIVRE · Chapter 39/150

1Salmo de Davi, para o regente, conforme “Jedutum”: Eu dizia: Vigiarei os meus caminhos, para eu não pecar com minha língua; vigiarei minha boca com freio, enquanto o perverso ainda estiver em frente a mim.

2Eu fiquei calado, nada falei de bom; e minha dor se agravou.

3Meu coração se esquentou dentro de mim, fogo se acendeu em minha meditação; [então] eu disse com minha língua:

4Conta-me, SENHOR, o meu fim, e a duração dos meus dias, para que eu saiba como eu sou frágil.

5Eis que a palmos tu ordenaste os meus dias, e o tempo de minha vida [é] como nada diante de ti; pois todo homem que existe [é] um nada. (Selá)

6Certamente o homem anda pela aparência, certamente se inquietam em vão; ajuntam [bens] , e não sabem que [os] levará.

7E agora, SENHOR, o que eu espero? Minha esperança [está] em ti.

8Livra-me de todas as minhas transgressões; não me ponhas como humilhado pelo tolo.

9Eu estou calado, não abrirei a minha boca, porque tu fizeste [assim] .

10Tira teu tormento de sobre mim; estou consumido pelo golpe de tua mão.

11Ao castigares alguém com repreensões pela maldade, logo tu desfaz o que lhe agrada como traça; certamente todo homem é um nada. (Selá)

12Ouve a minha oração, SENHOR; e dá ouvidos ao meu clamor; não te cales de minhas lágrimas, porque eu sou [como] um peregrino para contigo; estrangeiro, como todos os meus pais.

13Não prestes atenção em mim [em tua ira] , antes que eu vá, e pereça.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David resolves to keep silent before the wicked, but inner anguish drives him to speak, reflecting on the brevity of human life and asking God to spare him before he departs and ceases to exist.

Explanation

This psalm is an intense, honest meditation on the fragility and brevity of human existence ('my days as an handbreadth... altogether vanity'), echoing the tone of Ecclesiastes. David's initial attempt to stay silent so as not to sin with his tongue ultimately fails before the urgency of his pain — a realistic portrait of how contained anguish eventually needs expression. Today's application: recognizing the brevity of life is not a reason for despair but an invitation to live with more intentionality and less attachment to riches that 'we know not who shall gather.'

Fun facts

  • The expression 'as an handbreadth' (v.5) uses a real unit of measurement from that era — the handbreadth (the width across the palm) — to describe human life as something extremely short when compared to God's eternity.
  • This psalm's philosophical tone about the vanity and brevity of life is frequently compared to the book of Ecclesiastes, suggesting a shared wisdom tradition within biblical literature.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Salmos 39:1Opens by recounting a decision made: to watch his own speech carefully, almost like a bridle on his mouth, especially in the presence of those who do evil.
  2. Salmos 39:2Describes the side effect of this forced silence: he became so quiet he didn’t even speak of what was good, and that only made the inner pain grow.
  3. Salmos 39:3Describes the pressure building inside like a fire kindling during silent meditation, until he finally can’t hold it in any longer and speaks.
  4. Salmos 39:4Asks to truly understand how much time he still has to live, not out of morbid curiosity, but to feel in his own skin the size of his own frailty.
  5. Salmos 39:5A handbreadth is a small measure, about the width of an open hand; using it to measure an entire lifetime is an exaggerated way of showing how short life is, next to nothing, compared to God’s eternity.
  6. Salmos 39:6Compares human life to a shadow or a passing appearance, highlighting the irony of spending a lifetime piling up wealth without even knowing who will end up with it afterward.
  7. Salmos 39:7After reflecting on the brevity of life, he reaches a simple conclusion: since nothing else lasts, all that’s left is to put every hope in God.
  8. Salmos 39:8Asks for deliverance from all his transgressions, with one specific fear: he doesn’t want to become a target of mockery for fools.
  9. Salmos 39:9Accepts his own silence as something coming from God’s hand, a kind of submission that acknowledges the discipline instead of complaining about it.
  10. Salmos 39:10Asks for relief from a suffering he attributes directly to God’s hand, describing himself as already worn out by the weight of this blow.
  11. Salmos 39:11A moth destroys fabric little by little, without noise, until it falls apart unnoticed; the image describes how God’s punishment slowly wears away even human beauty and strength, slowly and silently.
  12. Salmos 39:12“Sojourner,” in Hebrew ger, was the foreigner who lived temporarily in a land that wasn’t his own; the psalmist uses this word to describe all of human life as a temporary passage, not a fixed, permanent place.
  13. Salmos 39:13Closes the psalm with a moving request: just a little relief before the end, enough time to catch his breath before departing for good.

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