the Fourth Week after Easter
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New Revised Standard
Psalms 39:2
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
I was speechless and quiet;I kept silent, even from speaking good,and my pain intensified.
I was mute with silence. I held my shalom, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse.
So I kept very quiet. I didn't even say anything good, but I became even more upset.
I was stone silent; I held back the urge to speak. My frustration grew;
I was mute and silent [before my enemies], I refrained even from good, And my distress grew worse.
I was mute and silent, I refused to say even something good, And my pain was stirred up.
I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.
I was dumme & spake nothing: I kept silece euen from good, and my sorow was more stirred.
I was mute with silence,I even kept silent from speaking good,And my anguish grew worse.
I was speechless and still; I held my peace, even from good, and my sorrow was stirred.
I kept completely silent, but it did no good, and I hurt even worse.
I said, "I will watch how I behave, so that I won't sin with my tongue; I will put a muzzle on my mouth whenever the wicked confront me."
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
So I didn't say anything. I didn't even say anything good, but I became even more upset.
I was dumb and sorrowful, I was wretched, I held myself aloof, even from good; and my sorrow was multiplied.
I kept quiet, not saying a word, not even about anything good! But my suffering only grew worse,
I was mute with silence. I was silent even from saying good things, and my pain was stirred up.
I became mute and still; from good I was silent, and my pain was stirred.
And so I shut my mouth, whyle the vngodly layed wayte for me.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; And my sorrow was stirred.
I made no sound, I said no word, even of good; and I was moved with sorrow.
I said: 'I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue;
I was dumbe with silence, I held my peace, euen from good, and my sorrow was stirred.
I became dumbe through scilence, I helde my peace from speakyng of good wordes: but the more was my sorowe increased.
I was dumb, and humbled myself, and kept silence from good words; and my grief was renewed.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
I was doumb, and was mekid ful gretli, and was stille fro goodis; and my sorewe was renulid.
I was mute with silence, I held my peace, even from good; And my sorrow was stirred.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, [even] from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; And my sorrow was stirred up.
But as I stood there in silence— not even speaking of good things— the turmoil within me grew worse.
I stayed quiet, not even saying anything good. And my sorrow grew worse.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, afar from happiness, But, my pain had been stirred:
(38-3) I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good things: and my sorrow was renewed.
I was dumb and silent, I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse,
I was dumb [with] silence, I kept silent from good, and my pain is excited.
I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, And my sorrow grew worse.
Contextual Overview
To the leader: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, "I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence." 2 I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse, 3 my heart became hot within me. While I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: 4 " Lord , let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. 5 You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Selah 6 Surely everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; they heap up, and do not know who will gather.Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
I was: Psalms 38:13, Psalms 38:14, Isaiah 53:7, Matthew 27:12-14
even: Matthew 7:6
my sorrow: Job 32:19, Job 32:20, Acts 4:20
stirred: Heb. troubled
Reciprocal: Job 3:1 - opened Job 6:24 - I will Job 20:2 - my thoughts Ecclesiastes 3:7 - time to keep Jeremiah 8:14 - be silent Mark 14:61 - he held Luke 23:9 - but Acts 8:32 - opened James 1:26 - bridleth
Cross-References
At that time Abimelech, with Phicol the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do;
And that very night the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham's sake."
They said, "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you
Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her.
And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.
But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
The chief jailer committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I was dumb with silence,.... Quite silent, as if he had been a dumb man, and could not speak; so he was before men, especially wicked men, and under the afflicting hand of God; see Psalms 39:9; thus he put his resolution into practice;
I held my peace, [even] from good; that is, he said neither good nor bad: this expresses the greatness of his silence: he did not choose to open his lips, and say anything that was good, lest evil should come out along with it; though this may be considered as carrying the matter too far, even to a criminal silence; saying nothing of the affliction he laboured under as coming from the hand of God, and of his own desert of it; nor praying to God for the removal of it, nor giving him thanks for his divine goodness in supporting him under it, and making it useful to him; though it seems rather to have respect to his silence concerning the goodness of his cause before men; he said not one word in the vindication of himself; but committed his cause to him that judgeth righteously. The Targum and Jarchi interpret it of his silence and cessation "from the words of the law": he said nothing concerning the good word of God; which sense, could it be admitted, the words in
Jeremiah 20:9; might be compared with these and the following;
and my sorrow was stirred; this was the issue and effect of his silence; his sorrow being pent up, and not let out and eased by words, swelled and increased the more; or the sorrow of his heart was stirred up at the insults and reproaches of his enemies, as Paul's spirit was stirred up by the superstition and idolatry of the city of Athens,
Acts 17:16.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
I was dumb with silence - Compare Psalms 38:13. The addition of the words “with silence,” means that he was entirely or absolutely mute; he said nothing at all. The idea is, that he did not allow himself to give utterance to the thoughts which were passing in his mind in regard to the divine dealings. He kept his thoughts to himself, and endeavored to suppress them in his own bosom.
I held my peace, even from good - I said nothing. I did not even say what I might have said in vindication of the ways of God. I did not even endeavor to defend the divine character, or to explain the reasons of the divine dealings, or to suggest any considerations which would tend to calm down the feelings of complaint and dissatisfaction which might be rising in the minds of other men as well as my own.
And my sorrow was stirred - The anguish of my mind; my trouble. The word “stirred” here, rendered in the margin “troubled,” means that the very fact of attempting to suppress his feelings - the purpose to say nothing in the case - was the means of increased anguish. His trouble on the subject found no vent for itself in words, and at length it became so insupportable that he sought relief by giving utterance to his thoughts, and by coming to God to obtain relief. The state of mind referred to here is that which often occurs when a man broods over his own troubled thoughts, and dwells upon things which are in themselves improper and rebellious. We are under no necessity of endeavoring to vindicate the psalmist in what he here did; nor should we take his conduct in this respect as our example. He evidently himself, on reflection, regarded this as wrong; and recorded it not as a pattern for others, but as a faithful transcript of what was passing at the time through his own mind. Yet, wrong as it was, it was what often occurs even in the minds of good men. Even they, as in the cases referred to above, often have thoughts about God and his dealings which they do not dare to express, and which it would do harm to express. They, therefore, hide them in their own bosom, and often experience just what the psalmist did - increased trouble and perplexity from the very purpose to suppress them. They should go at once to God. They may say to him what it would not be proper to say to men. They may pour out all their feelings before him in prayer, with the hope that in such acts of praying, and in the answers which they will receive to their prayers, they may find relief.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 39:2. I held any peace, even from good — "I ceased from the words of the law," says the Chaldee. I spoke nothing, either good or bad. I did not even defend myself.
My sorrow was stirred. — My afflictions increased, and I had an exacerbation of pain. It is a hard thing to be denied the benefit of complaint in sufferings, as it has a tendency to relieve the mind, and indeed, in some sort, to call off the attention from the place of actual suffering: and yet undue and extravagant complaining enervates the mind, so that it becomes a double prey to its sufferings. On both sides there are extremes: David seems to have steered clear of them on the right hand and on the left.
