Meditations on the Psalms #82

Day 82

Psalm 39: Read here – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2039&version=NASB

As previously mentioned, The Chief Musician is thought by some to be the Lord God Himself. Jeduthun (mentioned also in the titles of Psalm 62 and 77) was one of the musicians appointed by David to lead Israel’s public worship (1Chronicles 16:41;25:1-3 ). This psalm cannot be connected to any specific point in his life. It is possible that it is from his last few years because he prays about his transience and the brevity of life in v4. When my father died when I was 16 I began the same struggle with ‘vapour’ and ‘shadow’ (v4-5) – the meaninglessness of life. And so began my quest. I was determined to not go out of this world without knowing why I came into it. I was not going to live and die and never know why – as my father had. This Psalm, with the utmost politeness, is used at the burial of the dead, as a funeral is indeed the best comment upon it, and the best time to reflect on the shortness of life and the length of eternity. 

In the previous psalm, David was silent before his accusers (38:13). Here in v2ff, he did well to not speak his doubts and fears before the unsaved. He became exasperated at not being able to speak of his God; as the metaphors of v3 ‘my heart grew hot’ and ‘the fire burned’ portray. 

David’s silence was broken in the best way (v4-6) – by humble prayer to God. He would not speak his fears and doubts before the wicked, but he would pour them out before His God. Here David asked God for wisdom; specifically, the wisdom to know the shortness and the frailty of his life. 

This was not a prayer inspired by a desire to know when life would end; it was not a request to be told the date of death. It was a prayer for an accurate apprehension of the fact that life quantitatively – that is, as to the number of its days – is as nothing. 

He compares it to a ‘handbreadth,’ v5 one of the smallest units of measurement in ancient Israel-5cm.  

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