New English Translation
Psalms 39:4
4“O Lord, help me understand my mortality and the brevity of life! Let me realize how quickly my life will pass!
Psalms 39:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
- New International Version (NIV)“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am.
Context of Psalms 39:4
2I was stone silent; I held back the urge to speak. My frustration grew; 3my anxiety intensified. As I thought about it, I became impatient. Finally I spoke these words: “O Lord, help me understand my mortality and the brevity of life! Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! 5Look, you make my days short-lived, and my life span is nothing from your perspective. Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. 6Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”
Read all of Psalms 39Psalms 39:4 word by word
הוֹדִ֘יעֵ֤נִי יְהוָ֨ה׀ קִצִּ֗י וּמִדַּ֣ת יָמַ֣י מַה־הִ֑יא אֵ֝דְעָ֗ה מֶה־חָדֵ֥ל אָֽנִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 39:4
- Psalms 90:12So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely.
- Psalms 119:84How long must your servant endure this? When will you judge those who pursue me?
- Job 14:13“O that you would hide me in Sheol, and conceal me till your anger has passed! O that you would set me a time and then remember me!
Commentaries on Psalms 39:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Lord, make me to know mine end - I am weary of life; I wish to know the measure of my days, that I may see how long I have to suffer, and how frail I am. I wish to know what is wanting to make up the number of the days I have to live.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Lord, make me to know mine end - This expresses evidently the substance of those anxious and troubled thoughts Psalm 39:1-2 to which he had been unwilling to give utterance. His thoughts turned on the shortness of life; on the mystery of the divine arrangement by which it had been made so short; and on the fact that so many troubles and sorrows had been crowded into a life so frail and so soon to terminate. With some impatience, and with a consciousness…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-5how fleeting my life is: This perspective comes out of suffering (see Psalms 78:39; 89:47–48; 90:3–10). The human lifetime is but a moment to God (Psalm 90:4), as temporary as a breath (see Psalms 39:11; 144:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-74-7. Some take these words as those of fretting, but they are not essentially such. The tinge of discontent arises from the character of his suppressed emotions. But, addressing God, they are softened and subdued. make me to know mine end--experimentally appreciate. how frail I am--literally, "when I shall cease."Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 39:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 39
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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