Bible Commentary - Psalms 39

This is an unusual psalm. It seems to most resemble a prayer, but it does not follow the typical formula of the prayer psalms.

A normal prayer psalm has three parts: the problem, the petition, and praise. The problem sets up the context and background for what is going wrong. The petition is asking for God’s miraculous intervention to bring some kind of resolution to the problem. Praise concludes the typical prayer psalm by thanking God in anticipation and belief that his intervention is forthcoming.

In this psalm, it opens instead with a peculiar resolution. David says that he resolved to himself to say nothing, either good or bad. In verse 1 he clarifies that it is only “while the wicked are in my presence”, but in other verses it seems that his resolution to speak nothing is possibly more general than that.

In either case, it’s not entirely clear the context or why David chooses to refrain from judgment. What did he hope to accomplish? What was he afraid of? In verse 2, he says he “refrained even from good”, suggesting that this might be some kind of vow of silence, not just avoiding criticism or condemnation of these “wicked” people.

What’s even more strange about this story is how David says that his vow is protecting him from sin: “That I may not sin with my tongue” (v. 1). Is David afraid that he will join in the plots of the wicked, or is he afraid that condemning the wicked is itself an act of sin? What sin is he afraid of? Perhaps he is using the word “sin” sarcastically. In a general sense, the word “sin” means fault, mistake or error. Perhaps David is suggesting that by condemning the wicked, the wicked themselves would become enemies of David, and ascribe David’s words as a “sin” to him. It might not be wrong or evil for David to judge the wicked, but the wicked themselves could view it as such.

Most of these points are not clear: what is clear is that, as David remained silent, all of the words and thoughts built up more and more pressure in David’s heart, and “the fire burned” within him (v. 3). And how relatable is that! How many of us, having once vowed to speak nothing, to hold our peace, find the peace within us broken as “the fire burns”. I know for myself, having a sharp disagreement with one friend or another at one time or another, that many times I have resolved to say nothing. How many times I find my opinion raging unabated but unspoken, because I am living in the presence of people making (what I think are) mistakes. I can only imagine David finds himself in a similar contradiction, where his thoughts and feels are burning against the behavior that he sees, but he has resolved to say nothing. The pressure builds and builds until at last he speaks.

When David does speak, it’s hard for me to understand how his prayer relates to his earlier time of silence. David speaks a prayer, first that God would teach his heart the momentary briefness of life. Second, David prays that God would remove his punishment, that David may have joy for the few moments of his life before he dies and passes away forever.

Here’s what I don’t understand. When David was silent, it seemed like all his thoughts and energy were directed outward. He was burning because he had to remain silent in the presence of the wicked, because of his heart’s conflict with the wicked. When he finally speaks, it seems like all his thoughts and prayers are directed inward, towards his own life, suffering, and desire for joy. I don’t see how his thoughts in the first place lead to his words in the second place, unless perhaps I misunderstand the nature of his burning heart in verse 3.

Verses 4-6 clearly lay out David’s view that life is a brief and momentary thing. In verse 6, David specifically points out the folly of the wicked; they struggle and strive to accumulate wealth, but at the end of their lives, the wealth passes on to another and nobody knows who that might be.

In verses 7-11, David seems to shift direction quite a bit and asks God to “deliver” him from his sins and from God’s corresponding punishment. This whole section from v. 4-11 is why I consider this a prayer psalm, because David has a clear petition for God’s deliverance. Yet the other customary parts, the problem statement and praise, are suspiciously absent. Verses 1-3 seem to make up what is normally a problem statement, but as I previously mentioned I don’t really see how we can logically go from David’s silence before the wicked to David’s own transgressions and why David needs relief from God’s punishment.

If we viewed these sections as completely unrelated concepts, it would make a lot more sense; however, since it is all formed together as a single psalm, the nature of the text clearly relates them together. Perhaps the missing piece is the nature of David’s sin. What is David’s sin? And why does he choose to be silent before the wicked? The psalms are often decontextualized (stripped of any motivating incident) so that they can be more relatable, but in this case it’s simply confusing. Without knowing David’s sin, I don’t see why it would make him choose to be silent, or why, after his long silence, this is the prayer that bursts forth from his heart. I fear I cannot answer such questions for my readers, because I simply don’t know. If anyone has any ideas feel free to reply in the comments.