Psalm 39

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. My heart grew hot, within me set ablaze.
   I cried, “LORD, let me know my end.
   Reveal to me the measure of my days;
   as just a handbreadth you extend
   my span of fleeting days, so frail and light.
   It is as nothing in your 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 you I place my hope and trust.
   From all my sins deliverance afford,
   and let me not by scorn be crushed.
   My mouth I do not open, for I see
   that it was you who chastened me.
   
   
5. “Remove from me the chastisement I fear,
   lest I should perish through your wrath.
   At your rebukes, that which a man holds dear
   will fade and shrivel like a moth.
   For man is merely breath and vanity;
   yes, like a puff of wind is he.
   
   
6. “LORD, hear my cry, give ear to my request;
   do not my bitter tears ignore.
   For I with you am but a passing guest,
   as all my fathers were before.
   O turn away from me your watchful eye
   and give me joy before I die.”