Apart From God, Life Is Fleeting and Empty
Today, I would like to share some thoughts from the commentary on this chapter from the Tyndale Life Application Bible that blessed me. In this chapter we see an appeal for God’s mercy because life is so brief. Let us read this chapter first.
Psalm 39 (King James Version)
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.
“David resolved not to sin with his tongue; that is, he decided not to complain to other people about God’s treatment of him. David certainly had reason to complain. He was the anointed king of Israel, but had to wait many years before taking the throne. Then one of his sons tried to kill him and become king instead. But when David could not keep still any longer, he took his complaints directly to God. We all have complaints about job, money, or situation, but complaining before others may make them think that God cannot take care of us. It may also look as if we blame God for our troubles. Instead, like David, we should take our complaints directly to God.”
“Life is short no matter how long we live. If there is something important we want to do, we must not put it off for a better day. Ask yourself, if I had only six months to live, what would I do? Tell someone that you love him or her? Deal with an undisciplined area in your life? Tell someone about Jesus? Since life is short, don’t neglect what is truly important.”
“How temporary our lives are! It is as if we were God’s guests, visiting with him for a short while before passing on. But while our time her is short, the effects of what we can be eternal. One well-worn saying states: ‘Only one life will soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.’”
May we take time to talk to our Heavenly Father and recover our strength as we go forward in the strength of His mercy. Our hope is not in things and stuff but in God whom we trust and obey.1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
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