Psalm 39: When Words Fail and Tears Speak

Core Theme: For when you’re doubting, wavering, or wondering whether any of this is worth it

(Related Theme: When God Feels Silent. See “Walking through it” below.)

Background

David wrote Psalm 39 and addressed it to Jeduthun, one of the chief musicians of his day. The Bible doesn’t tell us the exact circumstance, but the psalm itself shows us a man in a season of suffering, who chose to keep silent while the wicked were near, until he could hold it in no longer.

It is one of the most honest prayers in the Psalms. David does not dress up his questions. He asks how short his life is, what any of it amounts to, and what he is waiting for. Then he answers his own question in the very next breath.

Psalm 39 (KJV)

1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

3 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

4 LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.

5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.

9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.

10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.

12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

The heart of it

Psalm 39 is a psalm for the moment when you have been carrying something so long that you stop knowing what to say. David tried to be careful. He kept his mouth shut in front of those who did not know God, and the silence cost him. His sorrow stirred, his heart grew hot, and the fire finally had to go somewhere.

Notice where it went. When David finally spoke, he did not speak to the people around him. He spoke to the LORD. That is the quiet strength of this psalm. His doubts were real, and his questions were hard, but he brought them to the only One who could answer them.

And the questions are the ones many of us have asked. How long do I have? What is any of this worth? Why do people pile up what they cannot keep? David is not losing his faith in these verses. He is wrestling with it honestly, and the wrestling leads him straight back to God. The Lord does not turn him away for asking.

Walking through it

Verses 1–2: “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.”

David’s first instinct was a good one: guard his words, especially in front of those who would only mock his faith. But silence is not the same as peace. He went quiet, even from good things, and the sorrow inside him only grew. If you have ever swallowed your questions because it did not seem safe to ask them out loud, you know this place. The answer is not to say more to the people around you. It is to do what David did in verse 3 and verse 4, and take it to the LORD.

Verses 4–5: “LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.”

This is not a morbid prayer. David is asking for perspective. He sees that his days are as an handbreadth, a width of about four fingers, and that everything people chase will be left behind (verse 6). James says the same thing: “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). When you are wondering whether any of this is worth it, the shortness of life can feel like the answer to “no.” David sees it differently. It sends him looking for something that lasts.

Verse 7: “And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.”

Here is the turn. “What wait I for?” is the question of a wavering heart, and “my hope is in thee” is the answer, in the same breath. Wavering faith is not the same as lost faith. The believer who asks the question and then looks to the LORD is still believing. “The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him” (Lamentations 3:24).

Verse 12: “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.”

This is the heart of the psalm. David’s fear is not only that life is short. It is that God might be silent. “Hold not thy peace at my tears” is a plea for the LORD not to stay quiet while he weeps. There are seasons when heaven seems quiet, and this verse gives you words for them. You do not have to explain yourself well. Tears are a prayer too, and the Lord takes note of them: “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8).

David also calls himself “a stranger with thee, and a sojourner [a temporary resident].” He is reminding himself that this world is not where he belongs. The writer of Hebrews says the same of the faithful who came before: “…and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). When life here feels heavy and short, it helps to remember that we are passing through, and that the One we are passing through with is listening.

Carrying this forward

If the Lord has already brought you through a season when you wondered whether any of it was worth it, remember that He was listening even when you could not hear Him answer. David ends this psalm still praying, but the very next psalm looks back on a time just like it: “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1). We are quick to forget what He has carried us through, and as things steady we can slowly drift. Keep your eyes on Him now, and let what He did then keep you thankful.

If you are in it right now, you do not have to find the right words. Bring Him the tears. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15), and He invites you to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, He is carrying the weight with you, and this world is not the end of the story. You are a sojourner here, and the day is coming when “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes…” (Revelation 21:4).