Psalm 39:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: "Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.

NIV: "Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were.

NASB: 'Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry for help; Do not be silent to my tears; For I am a stranger with You, One who lives abroad, like all my fathers.

CSB: "Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my cry for help; do not be silent at my tears. For I am here with you as an alien, a temporary resident like all my ancestors.

NLT: Hear my prayer, O Lord! Listen to my cries for help! Don’t ignore my tears. For I am your guest — a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: “Hear my prayer, O Lord, And give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.

In this verse David asks God to answer his prayer. This does not mean David believes God will ignore him completely. Even in repentant sorrow, he had faith that God could see, hear, and forgive him (Psalm 38:21–22). This appeal is for God to act quickly; it emphasizes the pain which David experiences.

Scripture makes it clear that sin and sorrow are close cousins. Sin disrupts a believer's fellowship with God, and therefore the believer has no peace. It leads to earthly consequences, so the sinner has reason to fear those results. When David sinned with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:7–9), he felt the crushing weight of godly conviction. In Psalm 32:3–4, he compares his suffering to a debilitating disease and the sense that God was against him. Also, his sin drained David of his joy. He prayed in Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation."

David correctly saw himself as a temporary resident of earthly life. This perspective was echoed by those praised in Scripture for their great faith in God (Hebrews 11:13–16). It is important to notice, though, that David defined himself as a sojourner with the Lord. He was not traveling alone (Deuteronomy 31:8; Matthew 28:20) As believers travel to heaven, the Lord is with them always (Hebrews 13:5).

Psalm 39:8–13 closes as David repents of sin. After expressing his need for humility and perspective, David suggests that some of his current struggles are the result of his own sin. This suggests that God is disciplining David through these experiences. As observed in the first part of the psalm, life is brief. David does not want to spend what little time he has under the Lord's chastening hand. He wants to spend his days at peace with the Lord and with joy in his soul.

David chooses not to speak in the presence of certain evil people. This might have been to avoid slander, or to not speak unfairly about God. In frustration, David calls on God to adjust his perspective. He asks to be reminded of life's brevity; the Lord's infinite perspective makes our troubles seem small. David acknowledges his sin and that God has disciplined him. Even so, he places all his hope in the Lord.

This psalm is related to Psalm 38. Both focus on David's response to sin and the hardships which life brings. Rather than speaking out against wicked people, David asks God to remind him of the brevity of life. Job 7:16–17 parallels the themes found in this psalm. Likewise does Psalm 90. No specific incident is tied to this writing, but it may have been inspired by David's sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:7–9).

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.