The entire content of the psalm can be divided into three parts. In the first (2–9), David recalls the dangers he experienced, from which the Lord delivered him; in the second (10-11) he talks about the revelation that came to him from God, which he announced before all the people, and in the third - (12-18) he prays to God for deliverance from the disasters he is experiencing again, and also points out his sinfulness before Him (13). By the first disasters, as having already passed, we must understand the persecution from Saul, which is indirectly indicated in Ps. 39-7 v., and by the experienced disasters we must understand the persecution from Absalom. The entire psalm, therefore, is written regarding the latest persecutions.
. I firmly trusted in the Lord, and He bowed down to me and heard my cry;
. He brought me out of the terrible pit, out of the muddy swamp, and set my feet on a rock and established my steps;
. and he put a new song in my mouth - praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.
“I trusted firmly in the Lord”, I, says David, suffered a lot, but these sufferings did not weaken my faith in Him, I suffered a lot, but remained devoted to the Lord and the Lord heard my “cry” for help: He freed me from disasters. “The terrible ditch” is a ditch of suffering, deep, strong disasters; “muddy swamps” – that is, unstable, shaking soil found in swamps means David’s restless and full of dangers. The Lord brought him out of this ditch and mud, gave him a solid and safe existence. In accordance with the changed situation, David’s songs also changed: instead of the previous ones, prayers and petitions, he began to compose new ones - thanks and praise. By these disasters David means persecution from Saul. The miraculous help that God often provided to David at this time, and his extraordinary fate, which brought him to the throne, were so amazing that they should have aroused reverence for God and faith in all people who knew the story of his life and faith only in Him, and not in their own. strength.
. Blessed is the man who places his hope in the Lord and does not turn to the proud or to those who turn to lies.
Therefore, blessed is he for whom the Lord is his only hope and who does not pay attention to "to the proud and to those who turn aside to lies". By the latter we mean the wicked, who, however, have external means of protection that are valuable in the eyes of people, whether in the form of wealth or their high position. Hope in them, according to David, is deceptive.
. You have done much, O Lord my God: about Your miracles and Your thoughts about us - whoever will be like You! – I would like to preach and speak, but they exceed the number.
The Lord shows His mercies over people in many wonderful deeds. He creates and created them, both in the life of David and among the Jews in such numbers that it is impossible to count them. The works of God are inexplicable to the human mind, they are beyond its limited understanding, and no one is able to imagine with their thoughts, with their minds, the degree of love and the amount of mercy that He pours out on man.
. You did not want sacrifices and offerings; You have opened my ears; You did not require burnt offerings or sin sacrifices.
. Then I said: here I come; in the book scroll it is written about me:
. I desire to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is in my heart.
It is also incomprehensible to man that God did not require David to observe the ritual Mosaic Law; He did not demand from him any sacrifice (bloody) or offerings (bloodless), nor burnt offerings (peaceful), nor a sin offering, but in return for this "opened my ears". This indicates the custom of the Jews to pierce the ears of a Jewish slave who, at the end of the Sabbath year, expressed a desire to remain with his former master. This expression indicates the voluntary dedication of oneself to the service of God, which dedication is higher than ritual sacrifice. For LXX: "he has prepared a body for me"(σῶμα), that is, he made me a body, demanded from David not to serve Himself in the rites of the law, but to serve Him with my whole body, with my whole being - thoughts, feelings and actions. The word σῶμα means a person with soul and body. Both expressions - Hebrew and Greek - thus mean the same thing.
Such a time when God did not count David as a sin for not making sacrifices was the time of his flight from Saul to Ziklag (cf.). David responded to this call from God to serve Him with all his being with a joyful feeling: “then I said: here I come”. About this obedience “it is written... in a book scroll”, in the scroll of the book of the law, by which this obedience was imposed on man by God, as an external requirement and command. For David, this obedience was not only the external requirement of the law, but also the internal attraction of his spirit, ( “I desire to do Your will”); in his activities and life he is always guided by this obedience - "Your law is in my heart", it constitutes an integral internal property, which cannot remain unexpressed externally.
The replacement of sacrifices in relation to David by serving God with thoughts and actions indicated that for God it is not the very objects of the offering that are valuable, and for a person it is not the very process of performing the ritual that is beneficial, but the sublime, internal mood of the sacrificer, which should be caused by an understanding of the meaning of the ideological side of the external action.
This fact of not charging David with the sin of non-observance of the ritual side of the law and replacing the latter with another type of service to God already indicated that the law itself does not have an immutable, eternal meaning, but a temporary one, which must be replaced by a higher type of worship than rituals. With the coming of the Messiah, this happened: the law of Moses lost its mandatory meaning and was replaced by serving God “by spirit and truth.” (). As an indication of the abolition of the Old Testament law, this place is also clarified in the epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Jews ().
In the very content of the psalm there is a clear indication of its messianic meaning. In 8 tbsp. David says that “in the book scroll it is written about me”. If we mean only David here, then in no place in the Holy Place. there is no such prophecy in books about him. Meanwhile, back in the book. Genesis spoke of the Seed of the woman, so strong and pure that It would erase the head of the serpent, destroy his power over the world.
In subsequent revelations this Seed of the woman was described even more fully: He is a prophet like Moses, a great Descendant of David, a God-man. And only to the latter can the words be applied with literal accuracy that he always carried the law “in his heart” and was always faithful to God.
The personality of David in this case was prototypical: his sincere attraction to God, the thirst to devote himself to full service to Him and the constant desire to strictly follow His law, all of this found full and precise fulfillment in the service of the Messiah - Christ, the seed of David according to the flesh.
. I have proclaimed Your righteousness in the great assembly; I did not forbid my mouth: You, Lord, know.
. I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart, I proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation, I did not hide Your mercy and Your truth before the great assembly.
By “truth”, “mercy” and “truth” here one can understand both David’s glorification of the Lord in the very songs that had church and public use, for the mercies shown to him during the unjust persecution of enemies, and the promise that he received from God about the origin of the promised Descendant from him, i.e., the Messiah.
. Do not withhold, O Lord, Thy compassions from me; May Thy mercy and Thy truth protect me unceasingly,
. for innumerable troubles surrounded me; My iniquities have come upon me, so that I cannot see them: they are more numerous than the hairs of my head; my heart has left me.
. I am poor and needy, but the Lord cares for me. You are my help and my deliverer, my God! don't slow down.
The rest of the psalm represents David's prayer for salvation from the dangers he experienced during the persecution from Absalom. – “May Thy mercy and Thy mercy protect me continually.”. As we indicated above, the persecution of Absalom and the sympathy of the people for him were fueled by the slander of David by his enemies, and therefore were undeserved by him, they were not “true.” God, as the bearer and defender of the truth, is the only protector to whom David can safely pray that He will not allow the enemies to trample the truth and triumph. “Iniquity has come upon me... than the hair of my head.”. – David here does not mean the number of various crimes committed by him, since then he could not be the divine chosen one, moreover, such crimes are not known and historical books do not indicate him, but the degree of awareness of the gravity of his sin with Bathsheba (see) . The greater the misfortunes of David, the more hopeless his situation seemed, the greater the rejoicing caused by his enemies (v. 16). Therefore, David prays to God to protect him and not allow the untruth of his enemies to triumph over the truth, and with this protection to fill with joy the righteous who, like David, will see that the only source of salvation, “my helper... and protector” is the Lord.
According to Art. 7–9 this psalm is of an educational and messianic nature.
I firmly trusted in the Lord, and He bowed down to me and heard my cry; He brought me out of the terrible pit, out of the muddy swamp, and set my feet on a rock and established my steps; and he put a new song in my mouth - praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who places his hope in the Lord and does not turn to the proud or to those who turn to lies. You have done much, O Lord, my God: about Your miracles and Your thoughts about us - whoever will be like You! - I would like to preach and speak, but they exceed the number. You did not want sacrifices and offerings; You have opened my ears; You did not require burnt offerings or sin sacrifices. Then I said: here I come; in the scroll of the book it is written about me: I desire to do Thy will, O my God, and Thy law is in my heart. I have proclaimed Your righteousness in the great assembly; I did not forbid my mouth: You, Lord, know. I did not hide Your righteousness in my heart, I proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation, I did not hide Your mercy and Your truth before the great assembly. Do not withhold, O Lord, Thy compassions from me; May Thy mercy and Thy truth protect me unceasingly, for innumerable troubles have surrounded me; My iniquities have come upon me, so that I cannot see them: they are more numerous than the hairs of my head; my heart has left me. Deign, O Lord, to deliver me; God! hurry to help me. May all who seek the destruction of my soul be ashamed and disgraced! May those who wish me harm be turned back and consigned to ridicule! Let those who say to me, “Good!” be dismayed by their shame. Fine! Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You, and let those who love Your salvation continually say: Great is the Lord! I am poor and needy, but the Lord cares for me. You are my help and my deliverer, my God! don't slow down.
Psalm 49
God of Gods, the Lord has spoken and called upon the earth, from the rising of the sun to the west. From Zion, which is the height of beauty, God appears, our God comes, and not in silence: before Him is a consuming fire, and around Him is a strong storm. He calls heaven and earth from above to judge His people: Gather to Me My saints, who entered into a covenant with Me through sacrifice. And the heavens will proclaim His righteousness, for this judge is God. Listen, My people, I will speak; Israel! I will testify against you: I am God, your God. It is not for your sacrifices that I will rebuke you; Your burnt offerings are always before Me; I will not accept the bull out of your house, nor the goats out of your folds, for all the wild beasts of the forest, and the cattle of a thousand mountains, are Mine, and I know all the birds of the mountains, and the animals of the fields, before Me. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the universe and everything that fills it are Mine. Do I eat the flesh of oxen and drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice praise to God and render your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will glorify Me. But God says to the sinner: Why do you preach My statutes and take My covenant in your mouth, but you yourself hate My instruction and throw My words away for yourself? when you see a thief, you associate with him, and associate with adulterers; you open your mouth to slander, and your tongue weaves deceit; you sit and speak against your brother, you slander your mother’s son; you did this, and I was silent; you thought that I was the same as you. I will expose you and bring your sins before your eyes. Understand this, you who forget God, lest I take away, and there will be no deliverer. Whoever sacrifices praise honors Me, and whoever watches his path, I will show God’s salvation to him.
Psalm 53
When the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Is not David hiding among us? God! Save me in Your name, and judge me in Your power. God! Hear my prayer, listen to the words of my mouth, for strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty are seeking my soul; they do not have God before them. Behold, God is my helper; The Lord strengthens my soul. He will repay the evil of my enemies; By Your truth I will destroy them. I will diligently offer a sacrifice to You, I will glorify Your name, Lord, for it is good, for You delivered me from all troubles, and my eye looked on my enemies.
Psalm 58
Deliver me from my enemies, my God! protect me from those who rise up against me; deliver me from the workers of iniquity; save me from the bloodthirsty, for behold, they lie in wait for my soul; The mighty are gathered against me, not because of my transgression and not because of my sin, O Lord; without my fault they come running and arm themselves; move to help me and look. Thou, O Lord, God of hosts, God of Israel, arise to visit all nations, spare not one of the wicked wicked: in the evening they return, howl like dogs, and walk around the city; behold, they spew out blasphemy with their tongues; swords are in their mouths: they think, who hears? But You, Lord, will laugh at them; You will put all nations to shame. They have the power, but I resort to You, for God is my intercessor. My God, who has mercy on me, will go before me; God will allow me to look at my enemies. Do not kill them, lest my people forget; Scatter them with Thy power and overthrow them, O Lord our protector. The word of their tongue is the sin of their lips, so that they may be caught in their pride for the oath and lies that they utter. Waste them in anger, waste them so that they do not exist; and let them know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. Let them return in the evening, howl like dogs, and walk around the city; let them wander to find food, and let the unfed pass the night. And I will sing Your power and proclaim Your mercy from early morning, for You were my protection and refuge in the day of my distress. My strength! I will sing praises to you, for God is my intercessor, my God who has mercy on me.
Psalm 139
Deliver me, Lord, from the evil man; save me from the oppressor: they think evil in their hearts, every day they take up arms in battle, they sharpen their tongue like a snake; the poison of the asp is under their lips. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked, keep me from the oppressors who are planning to make my steps slip. The proud hid snares and snares for me, they spread a net along the road, they laid out snares for me. I said to the Lord: You are my God; Hear, O Lord, the voice of my prayers! Lord, Lord, the power of my salvation! You covered my head on the day of battle. Do not, Lord, give what the wicked wants; do not give success to his evil plan: they will become proud. May the evil of their own lips cover the heads of those around me. Let burning coals fall on them; let them be thrown into the fire, into the abyss, so that they will not rise up. A man of evil tongue will not be established on earth; evil will drag the oppressor to destruction. I know that the Lord will bring justice to the oppressed and justice to the poor. So! The righteous will praise Your name; the blameless will dwell before You. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; save me from the oppressor: they think evil in their hearts, every day they take up arms in battle, they sharpen their tongue like a snake; the poison of the asp is under their lips. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked, keep me from the oppressors who are planning to make my steps slip. The proud hid snares and snares for me, they spread a net along the road, they laid out snares for me. I said to the Lord: You are my God; Hear, O Lord, the voice of my prayers! Lord, Lord, the power of my salvation! You covered my head on the day of battle. Do not, Lord, give what the wicked wants; do not give success to his evil plan: they will become proud. May the evil of their own lips cover the heads of those around me. Let burning coals fall on them; let them be thrown into the fire, into the abyss, so that they will not rise up. A man of evil tongue will not be established on earth; evil will drag the oppressor to destruction. I know that the Lord will bring justice to the oppressed and justice to the poor. So! The righteous will praise Your name; the blameless will dwell before You.
The last few months have been difficult and discouraging for us due to some pressing and very serious circumstances in our family. I'm sure you all have to go through such struggles. And if you are like me, the most crushing weight of the temptation to “fix” everything in the lives of those I love has threatened to destroy my peace, joy, and contentment in the midst of my circumstances.
Psalm 39:1 says, “I have waited patiently for the Lord.”
Prayer of Waiting: Father, help me to wait patiently on You so that I can experience Your sweet and calming presence in the midst of chaos, confusion and pain! I believe that You are the answer to every life of people dear to me, their problems, illness, situation, relationship or disorder. Only You alone can correct, restore and heal. Give me the ability to lay my burdens at the foot of the cross of Christ so that I can see You move with purity and precision to do what my human nature cannot do. Help me to fully trust the lives, minds and hearts of those I love so that You can do Your work even better in them, around them and through them. Please show me how to leave behind my pride and my “need” to fix things or “come to the rescue.” Give me the desire not to stand in Your way and give You the opportunity to move!
God's Answer to the Prayer of Waiting:
Psalm 39:1 says, “And He leaned down to me and heard my cry.”
My prayer: How amazing it is to me that You, the God of the universe, literally leaned down to me and heard my cry! How valuable I am to You! How grateful my heart is and how much I must mean to You that You took the time to hear my plaintive cries for help. In the midst of my pain, You care for me so much - so much more than I could ever imagine! Thank You, Abba Father, for bending down and ministering to my broken spirit. I thank You that I can always be sure that You listen and hear me when I cry out in Your Holy Name!
Psalm 39:2 says, “He also brought me out of the terrible pit, out of the miry mire.”
My prayer: Loving Jesus, You not only heard my cries for help, but You brought a measure out of the ditch - a terrible place where I was filled with despair, and discouragement, and doubt and depression. When I was drowning in the mire, You filled me with hope and allowed me to see light in the midst of the darkest place and time I have ever known. My heart is filled with gratitude that You literally pulled me out of the swamp that was sucking me down. I was knocked down, but not broken (2 Cor. 4:9), because You have made my enemies my footstool.
Psalm 39:3 says, “And he set my feet on a rock, and established my steps.”
My prayer: All-Merciful God, after You rescued me, You gently placed my feet on solid ground so that I could walk without stumbling! You knew that I would need a solid foundation—a safe place where I could walk with confidence and on which I could dance with delight again. Father, You helped me find balance when I was teetering on the edge of the abyss. I was so afraid of falling because the pressure was too much and the horror of the storm seemed to never end. But You extended Your hand to me in the midst of all this and mercifully saved my thoughts from the temptation to fall into despair. You have placed me where I will no longer be beaten by the ridicule and lies of the enemy of my soul. You have raised me up on the Rock, which is Jesus Christ!
Psalm 39:4 says, “And he put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God.”
My prayer: Holy Spirit, my joy literally faded away until You saved me and filled my mouth with fresh, new praise to the God of Glory! You have given me hope and peace and life again, and in the midst of the struggle of my circumstances, You have reminded me to keep my eyes on the Holy Spirit. You have helped me understand how to always be joyful, even when life seems cruelly unfair—especially to those I love and care about most. Please teach me to sing new songs every minute, because worshiping the King of kings is my deepest desire. Let me hold on to Your Word, for the sword cuts deep and strikes the enemy. May my song be in response to You as an offering of gratitude for everything that You have done to save me from destructive thoughts and actions. " Let them glorify Your glorious name and above all glorification and praise! You, Lord, are one, You created the sky, the heavens of heavens and all their hosts, the earth and everything that is on it, the seas and everything that is in them, and You live all this, and the heavenly hosts worship You.”(Neh. 9:5,6).
God did all this because:
Psalm 39:4 says, “Many will see and fear, and trust in the Lord.”
When other people see how God has allowed me to go through circumstances in victory, they will be in awe of what my wonderful, Almighty God can do. They will want to believe in a God who can do what He has already done, is doing now, and will continue to do for me when I call upon Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says: “Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” This scripture does not mean that we should rejoice because of our difficult and painful situations, but It does mean that we should be filled with joy, prayer and thanksgiving IN THE MIDDLE of them.
How do we do this?
Don't miss the most interesting things!
As we pour out our hearts to God in prayer from the deepest, darkest places of despair, we need to have faith that He will bend down to hear us, pull us out of the pit, and set us on the rock again so that we can walk in victorious praise. and that many might see His goodness and power, and trust in Him.
God will use your most devastating circumstances for His glory through you! It is your prayers from the pit that can also save others from the pit. Stand firm in times of suffering and “Wait patiently for the Lord.” He is there, just waiting for you to recognize His presence in the midst of your trials. Trust that He will bend down and hear your cries of despair to reach out to you and show you His faithfulness. And then don’t keep the fact that He saved you a secret! Give Him praise and glory so that “many saw and feared, and trusted in the Lord.”
Having endured, I endured the Lord, and listened to me, and heard my prayer. And bring me up from the pit of passions, and from the clay of the mire, and set me on the stones of my feet, and straighten my steps, and put into my mouth a new song, singing to our God. Many people will see and fear, and trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man for whom the name of the Lord is his hope, and he will not despise false vanity and confusion. Thou hast done many, O Lord, my God, Thy wonders, and by Thy thought there is no one like Thee: I have declared and spoken, multiplying more than in number. Thou didst not desire sacrifices and offerings, but thou didst fulfill the body, burnt offerings, and thou didst not require sin. Then he said: “Behold, I have come; in the chapter of the book it is written about me: I have willed to do Thy will, O my God, and Thy law is in the midst of my womb.” I will not withhold the gospel of the truth in the great church; behold, I will not withhold from my lips: Lord, you have understood. I have not hidden Your righteousness in my heart, I have not hidden Your truth and Your salvation, I have not hidden Your mercy and Your truth from the multitude. But You, Lord, do not remove Your compassions from me: I will take Your mercy and Your truth away, intercede for me. For the wickedness, which has no number, has taken possession of me, and has overtaken me with my iniquities, and I was not able to see, multiplying more than the hair of my head, and forsake my heart. Deign, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, come to my aid. Let those who seek to take my soul be ashamed and put to shame, and let those who wish me evil turn back and be ashamed. May those who say: better, better, accept their bitterness. Let all who seek You, O Lord, rejoice and rejoice in You, and let them say: May the Lord be magnified in those who love Your salvation. But I am poor and wretched, the Lord will take care of me. Thou art my Helper and my Protector, O my God, do not become stubborn.
Ps. 39 (the inscription preceding it corresponds to verse 1) is visibly divided into two parts: the offering of thanksgiving praise to the Lord for the help provided (verses 2-11) and a plea for new help in new disasters (verses 12-18).
A. Devotion to God (39:2-11)
Ps. 39:2-5. The psalm begins joyfully - with a solemn announcement to the people about David's deliverance from disasters - in response to his cry and trust in the Lord.
After David's long prayers and patient waiting, God made amazing changes in his life. The psalmist figuratively describes his previous state as a “terrible ditch”, like a “muddy (sucking) swamp”; Having snatched him out of them, the Lord set... David's feet on solid stone. Then he sang sad songs, full of prayer, but, radically changing his circumstances, the Lord gave him a reason to sing a new song - praise to God (verse 4; compare Ps. 33:3; 96:1; 97:1) - for the edification of all Whoever saw what the Lord did for David, and who now hears his new hymn, let them fear and trust in the Lord. From what he said, the psalmist concludes that blessed is the man who... does not turn to proud and deceitful people who have power and authority, but puts his hope in the Lord (verse 5).
Ps. 39:6 The wonderful deeds and plans (“thoughts”) of the Lord aimed at the good of mankind are so numerous that David is not able, no matter how much he would like to, to sing of them all.
Ps. 39:7-9. These verses have messianic overtones; they clearly do not refer only to David. You did not desire sacrifices and offerings, says the psalmist, and clarifies: you did not demand. In relation to David, this may mean that by the disasters from which the Lord delivered him, he meant the entire period of his persecution by King Saul. It was then that David, forced to constantly “leave” Saul, was deprived of the opportunity to offer sacrifices in the tabernacle, as required by the law of Moses.
However, God did not blame him for this, but charged David to devote himself entirely to serving Him. Noteworthy in this regard is the phrase You opened (according to other translations - “pierced”) my ears. According to ancient Hebrew custom, the ear was pierced for a Jewish slave who, at the end of his term of service, wished to remain in his master’s house (Ex. 21:6).
Here this “pierced - opened” means both David’s voluntary desire to always be a servant of the Lord, to devote himself to Him, and the recognition of the fact that the Lord “opened his ears” so that he would hear His word and obey Him. The Septuagint translates this phrase as “(Thou hast) prepared a body for Me”; The translator used here the so-called “synedoche” - a literary device based on the fact that a part serves to perceive the whole (that is, “ear,” as here, expresses the concept of “body”). At the same time, the thought expressed in the psalm - about David’s serving God with his whole being (“whole body”) was conveyed quite adequately.
In accordance with what is written in the book of the law (in the book scroll; verse 8), i.e. in the word of God, about the need to obey the Lord, David expresses his heartfelt readiness to do His will (Then I said: behold, I come... Your law is in me heart; verses 8-9).
The messianic implications of these verses were discussed above. He reveals himself when quoting what is said here by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 10:5-7) in relation to Jesus Christ (em. comments on Heb. 10:5-7). In the New Testament context, Ps. 39:7-9 becomes much more significant, and in some ways more specific.
Thus, David says that “in the scroll of the book” it is said about him; Meanwhile, there is no such (as implied here) prophecy about David in the Holy Scriptures of the Jews, but there are (and repeated) about the great Descendant of David, to whom the words (in particular) about the law of God in the heart refer literally. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews was precisely contrasting the perfect obedience of Christ with the inadequacy of the Old Testament sacrifices. The words “You... have prepared a body for Me” in relation to the Messiah speak of His incarnation for the sake of the complete fulfillment of God’s plan - as it is “written... in the scroll of the book.” So David speaks in Ps. 39 as a type of Christ.
Ps. 39:10-11. Submitting to the will of the Lord, David eagerly and joyfully proclaimed His righteousness in the assembly of the Jewish people. He “did not restrain his lips”—he did not forbid them, as evidenced by this and other psalms of David.
B. Plea for deliverance from new troubles (39:12-18)
Ps. 39:12-13. Beginning with these verses, the tone of the psalm changes dramatically. New whites befell the king (perhaps the plot of Absalom and his supporters was meant), and he prays to the Lord not to take away His mercy and bounty from him (Do not withhold them, Lord, may they continually inspire me; verse 12). David’s words in verse 13, where he says that the “iniquities” he committed were more than a hair on his head, should not be taken literally: after all, David always remained God’s chosen one. Rather, aware of his sinfulness and, probably, especially acutely experiencing the three that were associated with Bathsheba, David expressed - in such an emotional form - his experiences.
Ps. 39:14-16. There follows a prayer for deliverance from a new disaster (Lord! hasten to help me), for the shame of those who thirst for the death of David and, without hiding, gloat, saying to his face: “Good! Fine!"
Ps. 39:17-18. The psalm ends with a prayer for the triumph of “all who seek the Lord and love His salvation” - may they praise Him continually, convinced by the example of David that the only source of protection and help is the Lord. The last humble chord sounds in verse 18 - David acknowledges his “poverty and misery” before the Lord and rejoices that He cares about him. My God! do not delay, the psalmist asks.