Psalms · 13 verses
Psalms 39
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
A man puts a muzzle on his own mouth, and the silence makes a fire of his heart.
The silence catches firevv. 1–3
David resolves to keep watch over his tongue while the wicked are present, and manages even to remain silent from speaking good. It does not settle him. His heart grows hot as he muses, until the guarded mouth opens at last.
Handbreadths, vapour, and the one who hauls it awayvv. 4–11
The speech turns to the measure of a life: days made as handbreadths, a lifetime as nothing, and each person no more than a breath. Human bustle fares no better; riches are heaped up without knowing who will haul them away. Yet after all this vanishing, David says where his hope is, asks deliverance from his transgressions, and pleads for the scourge to be removed.
Near enough to hear, far enough to turn awayvv. 12–13
The final appeal asks the LORD to hear the prayer and not be deaf to the weeping of a foreigner and stranger. Then, with a splendidly abrupt change of direction, David asks for the LORD's gaze to turn away, so that he may recover his cheer before departing and being no more.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 39:1For 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.”
Ps 39:2I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.
Ps 39:3My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
Ps 39:4“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
Ps 39:5You, 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
Ps 39:6Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
Ps 39:7And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
Ps 39:8Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.
Ps 39:9I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.
Ps 39:10Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
Ps 39:11You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
Ps 39:12Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
Ps 39:13Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 149 passages were voted onto 13 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 1Proverbs 21:23He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- 1Psalms 141:3Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.
- 4Psalms 90:12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
- 1James 1:26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- 7Romans 15:13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- 7Psalms 38:15I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God.
- 1Micah 7:5–6Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.
- 1Psalms 34:13Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.
- 7Psalms 119:81My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.
- 1Hebrews 2:1We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- 121 Peter 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- 11 Kings 2:4and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’
- 1Proverbs 4:26–27Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.
- 4Psalms 103:14For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
- 1Colossians 4:5Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.
- 7Genesis 49:18I await Your salvation, O LORD.
Onward