Psalm 39

A David Psalm ^1-3I'm determined to watch steps and tongue so they won't land me in trouble.
   I decided to hold my tongue
      as long as Wicked is in the room.
   "Mum's the word," I said, and kept quiet.
      But the longer I kept silence
   The worse it got—
      my insides got hotter and hotter.
   My thoughts boiled over;
      I spilled my guts.

^4-6    "Tell me, what's going on, GOD?
      How long do I have to live?
      Give me the bad news!
   You've kept me on pretty short rations;
      my life is string too short to be saved.
   Oh! we're all puffs of air.
      Oh! we're all shadows in a campfire.
   Oh! we're just spit in the wind.
      We make our pile, and then we leave it.

^7-11    "What am I doing in the meantime, Lord?
      Hoping, that's what I'm doing—hoping
   You'll save me from a rebel life,
      save me from the contempt of dunces.
   I'll say no more, I'll shut my mouth,
      since you, Lord, are behind all this.
      But I can't take it much longer.
   When you put us through the fire
      to purge us from our sin,
      our dearest idols go up in smoke.
   Are we also nothing but smoke?

^12-13    "Ah, GOD, listen to my prayer, my
      cry—open your ears.
   Don't be callous;
      just look at these tears of mine.
   I'm a stranger here. I don't know my way—
      a migrant like my whole family.
   Give me a break, cut me some slack
      before it's too late and I'm out of here."