Devotional Short Notes to Psalm 39: One may call this Psalm, an afterglow on basic tenets of the Book of Ecclesiastics and Job. Although it seems as if Ecclesiastics were written by Solomon the son of David, what one find in this Psalm are echoes of that. Parental education plays a big role in the continuation of thoughts of children. Like father, like son. This is no exception.

In Proverbs 4:20 the educator says in Solomon’s hand writing: “My son, give attention to my words…incline your ear …your sight…in the middle of your heart…watch…put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious lips far from you…eyes look directly ahead…gaze be fixed…watch the path of your feet…your ways will be established…turn your foot from evil”. In Psalm 39:2 David, who must have taught Solomon the same as Proverbs 4 says that he took what appears to our modern eyes as a “New Year Resolution”: I will not speak back when the wicked scream at me. I will bite my tongue “that I sin not with my tongue”. It worked: “I was dumb with silence, I held my peace from good and my pain was held in check” (39:3). Not talking to the wicked “before” (neged) him. It helped since his heart waxed hot within him.

This heartfelt relationship for God “burned” in his heart “in my praising” (39:4b). Most translations read here “musing” to connect it to the Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish Kabbalistic meditation practices but that is not what is here involved. Musing is not meditation here although the Middle-age Rabbis translated it such. It is the Late Egyptian word ḥknw for “praise or thanksgiving”. It was while David was praising God that a fire kindled inside him for God and “spoke I with the tongue” not to people but to God (39:4d).

“Lord,” David said, “make me known my end”. God knows the end of each one since Ecclesiastics 3:10 reads: “and the measure of my days, what it is. Let me know how short-lived I am” (39:5b-c). He has Job 14:1-2 in mind here: “man, who is born of woman is short-lived and full of trouble, like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain”. David continued with the words of Job: “You have made my days as hand-breadths, and mine age is as nothing before You”. The same is said in Ecclesiastics 19:1 “Man does not know what love and hatred, anything awaiting him”. David also cites the vanity line of Ecclesiastics: “Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity” (39:6c). David is citing here Ecclesiastics since he used the word Selah which is a marker for citations.

He then cites from Ecclesiastics 2:18, 19, 21 indicating that wealth accumulation is vanity since after death, who will take it? (39:7a-c). Just like Solomon in Ecclesiastics came to the main understanding what matters in life in Ecclesiastics 12:13 “Fear God and keep His commandments because this is for every person” so David came to the same: “and now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope, it is in You” (39:8). Like father like son. The sins of David are every now and then mentioned in the Scriptures in his history so in this case he mentioned “transgressions” that need deliverance from (39:9). But David knew, that what you sow you reap and if you sow evil you will reap evil consequences because there is a Great Controversy in Heaven still raging on earth between Christ and Satan, with Christ as Victor already by Satan acting as if he is the winner. So even though David confessed his guilt and sins and was forgiven totally, the memory of sin is not taken away and neither are the avenues to the soul totally blocked-off from Satan’s entry. Unless he daily and momentarily pay attention, Satan will slip in his thoughts and spin his spiders-web holding him captive to habits and desires popping-up. The Holy Spirit, most powerful, is instantly available for casting Satan out just like the pigs over the cliff in Jesus’ days. No difference. And that is probably what David is doing here: “Deliver me…”

In David’s case, it seems as if he is aware of his guilt and God’s disfavor with that guilt: “because You have done it” (39:10b); “remove Your stroke from over me” (39:11a); “I am consumed by the blow of Your hand” (39:11b). He knows the principle of God: “In rebukes over iniquity You unrestrain [yisarta] man” (39:12). Why does the Lord unrestrain man? Because man is free do sin or not sin but the faithful will be punished as a father punishes his son whom he loves. However unrestrained. Satan however, binds people to sin, desires and habits. He gives them no second choice or freedom to choose the opposite. This is the difference between God and Satan.

David then cites Job 13:28 and Ecclesiastics 2:16-26 that man is like a cloth which a moth eaten away. “Surely every man is vanity” and David closed his citation with the citation mark: Selah. Job said the same when he said: “While I am decaying like a rotten thing. Like a garment that is moth-eaten”. David’s finger is on chapter 13 and 14 of Job while writing Psalm 39. He closed the Psalm with a prayer: He wants the Lord to hear his prayer and give ear to his cry. The Lord should not keep silent at his tears. David is crying and shedding tears. The Lord’s hand rests on him for his transgressions that he is aware of. Then David said a very interesting remark: “For I am a stranger [ger] with You”. In Judaism this is a no-no. This is how it works: in their religion, ha-am is the ethnic remnant Israel who are the children of Abraham and due to the blood-relationship are heirs of salvation and blessings of the Lord. Ger or “strangers” are not elected by God. They are unholy. Here David calls himself not a ha-am but a ger. Many rabbis will be shocked at this statement and may even denied that it is written by David because of this sentence.

David says: If you sin, your transgressions breaks your relationship with God so that even though you are Jewish, or a Hebrew, you are a stranger to God and cannot receive the blessings of the covenant of God with His people. Secondly, David indicates here that only when one is faithful and have a spiritual relationship with Him, can one be called ha-am, otherwise one is ger. Especially by the prophet Isaiah it is indicated that the ha-am and ger would be at the End of Time be together with God. He had in mind the spiritual remnant and those who with the Latter Rain made a last decision since it is the last call from all nations across the globe. But, the ha-am is also from all nations across the globe. It is just a way to explain that a small remnant is going to be much larger after the Latter Rain. Here David used it in a derogatory manner about himself.

He also says that his fathers were “sojourners” (39:13d). In 39:14 he wants God to turn away from him, not to forsake him, but to stop the discomfort of the problems he reaped due to his transgressions. He is afraid that he will die if God does not turn his trails: “In the event I go and be no more”.