Moff by section PSA 39:1

Psalm 39

From the Choirmaster Jeduthun’s collection. A song of David.

39 I said, I will be careful what I do,

lest I sin with my tongue;

I must put a muzzle on my lips

in presence of the ungodly.

2 So I kept silence,

dumb and ill at ease.

But this only stirred my grief;

3 my heart grew hot within me,

my thoughts kindled,

and I prayed:

4 “O thou Eternal, let me know my end,

the number of my days,

how long I have to live!

5 Thou hast made my days no longer than a span;

my life is a mere nothing in thy sight,

no better than an empty breath.

6 Man’s busy life indeed is but a phantom,

making an empty ado,

amassing wealth and knowing not

who is to have his hoard.

7 What then can I expect, O Lord?

It is in thee I hope.

9 I am dumb, I never say a word,

for it is thou who orderest life so.

11 Thou chastenest mortal man,

in punishing his guilt,

eating away his comeliness like a moth—

man is no better than an empty breath!

8 Save me from all my sins,

from the taunts of the profane;

10 relieve me from thy plague,

for I am wasting underneath thy strokes.

12 Hear my prayer, O thou Eternal,

listen to my cry,

answer thou my tears;

for I am but a guest of thine,

a passing waif, as all my fathers were.

13 Avert thy frown, that I may be at ease,

ere I depart and be no more.”