the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
Psalms 39:9
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
I am speechless; I do not open my mouthbecause of what you have done.
I was mute, I didn't open my mouth, Because you did it.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.
I am quiet; I do not open my mouth, because you are the one who has done this.
I am silent and cannot open my mouth because of what you have done.
"I am mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who has done it.
"I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who have done it.
I was mute, I didn't open my mouth, Because you did it.
I should haue bene dumme, and not haue opened my mouth, because thou didest it.
I have become mute, I do not open my mouth,Because it is You who have done it.
I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because it is You who have done this.
You treated me like this, and I kept silent, not saying a word.
Rescue me from all my transgressions; don't make me the butt of fools.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; for *thou* hast done [it].
I will not open my mouth. I will not say anything. You did what should have been done.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.
I will keep quiet, I will not say a word, for you are the one who made me suffer like this.
I am mute. I do not open my mouth, for you, yourself, have done it.
I was mute; I did not open my mouth, because You had done it .
Delyuer me from all myne offences, and make me not a scorne vnto the foolish.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; Because thou didst it.
I was quiet, and kept my mouth shut; because you had done it.
Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the base.
I was dumbe, I opened not my mouth; because thou diddest it.
I became dumbe, and opened not my mouth: for it was thy doyng.
I was dumb, and opened not my mouth; for thou art he that made me.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
I was doumbe, and openyde not my mouth; for thou hast maad,
I was mute, I did not open my mouth; Because you did it.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst [it].
I was mute, I did not open my mouth, Because it was You who did it.
I am silent before you; I won't say a word, for my punishment is from you.
I cannot speak. I do not open my mouth because it is You Who has done it.
I am silent; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.
I am dumb, I cannot open my mouth, for, thou, hast done it.
(38-10) I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because thou hast done it.
I am dumb, I do not open my mouth; for it is thou who hast done it.
I have been dumb, I open not my mouth, Because Thou -- Thou hast done [it].
"I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, Because it is You who have done it.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Psalms 38:13, Leviticus 10:3, 1 Samuel 3:18, 2 Samuel 16:10, Job 1:21, Job 2:10, Job 40:4, Job 40:5, Daniel 4:35
Reciprocal: Genesis 34:5 - held Leviticus 26:41 - and they Ruth 1:13 - the hand 2 Samuel 12:20 - arose 2 Samuel 15:26 - let 2 Kings 4:26 - It is well 2 Kings 20:19 - Good Job 21:5 - lay your Isaiah 38:15 - What Isaiah 39:8 - Good Jeremiah 10:19 - Truly Jeremiah 31:18 - Thou hast Lamentations 3:28 - General Ezekiel 16:63 - and never Ezekiel 24:17 - Forbear to cry Amos 8:3 - with silence Jonah 4:8 - and wished Mark 14:61 - he held Luke 23:9 - but John 19:11 - Thou Acts 8:32 - opened
Cross-References
Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman."
God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family."
Abraham spoke to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of everything he had, "Put your hand under my thigh and swear by God —God of Heaven, God of Earth—that you will not get a wife for my son from among the young women of the Canaanites here, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac."
He wouldn't do it. He said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master doesn't give a second thought to anything that goes on here—he's put me in charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn't turned over to me is you. You're his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?"
She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.
When his master heard his wife's story, telling him, "These are the things your slave did to me," he was furious. Joseph's master took him and threw him into the jail where the king's prisoners were locked up. But there in jail God was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer. The head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners—he ended up managing the whole operation. The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best.
On the third day, Joseph spoke to them. "Do this and you'll live. I'm a God-fearing man. If you're as honest as you say you are, one of your brothers will stay here in jail while the rest of you take the food back to your hungry families. But you have to bring your youngest brother back to me, confirming the truth of your speech—and not one of you will die." They agreed.
"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—the wife, say, of his neighbor—both the man and the woman, the adulterer and adulteress, must be put to death.
"But if you don't do what you say, you will be sinning against God ; you can be sure that your sin will track you down. So, go ahead. Build towns for your families and corrals for your livestock. Do what you said you'd do."
Then David confessed to Nathan, "I've sinned against God ." Nathan pronounced, "Yes, but that's not the last word. God forgives your sin. You won't die for it. But because of your blasphemous behavior, the son born to you will die."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth,.... This refers either to his former silence, before he broke it, Psalms 39:1, or to what he after that came into again, when he had seen the folly of his impatience, the frailty of his life, the vanity of man, and all human affairs, and had been directed to place his hope and confidence in the Lord, Psalms 39:5; or to the present frame of his mind, and his future conduct, he had resolved upon; and may be rendered, "I am dumb"; or "will be dumb, and will not open my mouth" e; that is, not in a complaining and murmuring way against the Lord, but be still, and know or own that he is God;
because thou didst [it]; not "because thou hast made me", as Austin reads the, words, and as the Arabic version renders them, "because thou hast created me"; though the consideration of God being a Creator lays his creatures under obligation as to serve him, so to be silent under his afflicting hand upon them; but the sense is, that the psalmist was determined to be patient and quiet under his affliction, because God was the author of it; for though he is not the author of the evil of sin, yet of the evil of affliction; see Amos 3:6; and it is a quieting consideration to a child of God under it, that it comes from God, who is a sovereign Being, and does what he pleases; and does all things well and wisely, in truth and faithfulness, and in mercy and loving kindness: this some refer to the rebellion of Absalom, and the cursing of Shimei, 2 Samuel 12:11; or it may refer to the death of his child, 2 Samuel 12:22; or rather to some sore affliction upon himself; since it follows,
e לא אפתח "non aperiam", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Gejerus; so Ainsworth.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
I was dumb - See the notes at Psalms 39:2. Compare Isaiah 53:7. The meaning here is, that he did not open his mouth to complain; he did not speak of God as if he had dealt unkindly or unjustly with him.
I opened not my mouth - I kept entire silence. This would be better rendered, “I am dumb; I will not open my mouth.” The meaning is, not that he had been formerly silent and uncomplaining, but that he was now silenced, or that his mind was now calm, and that he acquiesced in the dealings of Divine Providence. The state of mind here, if should be further observed, is not that which is described in Psalms 39:2. There he represents himself as mute, or as restraining himself from uttering what was in his mind, because he felt that it would do harm, by encouraging the wicked in their views of God and of his government; here he says that he was now silenced - he acquiesced - he had no disposition to say anything against the government of God. He was mute, not by putting a restraint on himself, but because he had nothing to say.
Because thou didst it - thou hast done that which was so mysterious to me; that about which I was so much disposed to complain; that which has overwhelmed me with affliction and sorrow. It is now, to my mind, a sufficient reason for silencing all my complains, and producing entire acquiescence, that it has been done by thee. That fact is to me sufficient proof that it is right, and wise, and good; that fact makes my mind calm. “The best proof that anything is right and best is that it is done by God.” The most perfect calmness and peace in trouble is produced, not when we rely on our own reasonings, or when we attempt to comprehend and explain a mystery, but when we direct our thoughts simply to the fact that “God has done it.” This is the highest reason that can be presented to the human mind, that what is done is right; this raises the mind above the mysteriousness of what is done, and makes it plain that it should be done; this leaves the reasons why it is done, where they should be left, with God. This consideration will calm down the feelings when nothing else would do it, and dispose the mind, even under the deepest trials, to acquiescence and peace. I saw this verse engraved, with great appropriateness, on a beautiful marble monument that had been erected over a grave where lay three children that had been suddenly cut down by the scarlet fever. What could be more suitable in such a trial than such a text? What could more strikingly express the true feelings of Christian piety - the calm submission of redeemed souls - than the disposition of parents, thus bereaved, to record such a sentiment over the grave of their children?
