Psalm 39 - Contemporary English Version Interconfessional Edition

A Prayer for Forgiveness

(A psalm by David for Jeduthun, the music leader.)

¹ I told myself, “I'll be careful not to sin by what I say, and I'll muzzle my mouth when evil people are near.”

² I kept completely silent, but it did no good, and I hurt even worse.

³ I felt a fire burning inside, and the more I thought, the more it burned, until at last I said:

⁴ “Please, Lord, show me my future. Will I soon be gone?

⁵ You made my life short, so brief that the time means nothing to you. “Human life is but a breath,

⁶ and it disappears like a shadow. Our struggles are senseless; we store up more and more, without ever knowing who will get it all.

⁷ “What am I waiting for? I depend on you, Lord!

⁸ Save me from my sins. Don't let fools sneer at me.

⁹ You treated me like this, and I kept silent, not saying a word.

¹⁰ “Won't you stop punishing me? You have worn me down.

¹¹ You punish us severely because of our sins. Like a moth, you destroy what we treasure most. We are as frail as a breath.

¹² “Listen, Lord, to my prayer! My eyes are flooded with tears, as I pray to you. I am merely a stranger visiting in your home as my ancestors did.

¹³ Stop being angry with me and let me smile again before I am dead and gone.”