Psalms 39:3

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, "I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present." ²I was speechless and still; I held my peace, even from good, and my sorrow was stirred. ³My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:⁴"Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. ⁵You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah ⁶Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jeremiah 20:9, Ezekiel 3:14, Luke 24:32

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 3:26 - yearned Job 3:1 - opened Job 7:11 - I will not Job 20:2 - my thoughts Job 32:18 - the spirit Job 40:9 - canst

Cross-References

Genesis 21:22
At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do.

Genesis 26:24
and that 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. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham."

Genesis 26:28
"We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you," they replied. "We think there should be an oath between two parties-between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

Genesis 30:27
But Laban replied, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you."

Genesis 30:30
Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?"

Genesis 39:7
and after some time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Sleep with me."

Genesis 39:8
But he refused. "Look," he said to his master's wife, "with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care.

Genesis 39:15
When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

Genesis 39:16
So Potiphar's wife kept Joseph's garment beside her until his master came home.

Genesis 39:23
The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph's authority, because the LORD was with him and gave him success in whatever he did.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

My heart was hot within me,.... Either with zeal for God; or rather with envy at the prosperity of wicked men, and with impatience at his own afflictions;

while I was musing the fire burned; not the fire of the divine word, while he was meditating upon it, which caused his heart to burn within him; nor the fire of divine love, the coals whereof give a most vehement flame, when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, and the thoughts of it are directed by the Spirit of God to dwell in meditation on it; but the fire of passion, anger, and resentment, while meditating on his own adversity, and the prosperity of others;

[then] spake I with my tongue; and so broke the resolution he had made,

Psalms 39:1; he spoke not for God, though to him; not by way of thankfulness for his grace and goodness to him, in supporting him under his exercises; but in a way of complaint, because of his afflictions; it was in prayer he spoke to God with his tongue, and it was unadvisedly with his lips, as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My heart was hot within me - My mind became more and more excited; my feelings more and more intense. The attempt to suppress my emotions only more and more enkindled them.

While I was musing the fire burned - literally, “in my meditation the fire burned.” That is, while I was dwelling on the subject; while I was agitating it in my mind; while I thought about it - the flame was enkindled, and my thoughts found utterance. He was unable longer to suppress his feelings, and he gave vent to them in words. Compare Jeremiah 20:9; Job 32:18-19.

Then spake I with my tongue - That is, in the words which are recorded in this psalm. He gave vent to his pent-up feelings in the language which follows. Even though there was a feeling of murmuring and complaining, he sought relief in stating his real difficulties before God, and in seeking from him direction and support.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 39:3. My heart was hot within me — A natural feeling of repressed grief.

While I was musing — What was at first a simple sensation of heat produced a flame; the fire broke out that had long been smothered. It is a metaphor taken from vegetables, which, being heaped together, begin to heat and ferment, if not scattered and exposed to the air; and will soon produce a flame, and consume themselves and every thing within their reach.