Komentaryo ng kabanata
Psalms Kabanata 39
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Walang pamagat
简体中文
orihinal na Ingles
David seems to have been in a great strait when he penned this psalm, and, upon some account or other, very uneasy; for it is with some difficulty that he conquers his passion, and composes his spirit himself to take that good counsel which he had given to others (Ps 37:1-40) to rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, without fretting; for it is easier to give the good advice than to give the good example of quietness under affliction. What was the particular trouble which gave occasion for the conflict David was now in does not appear. Perhaps it was the death of some dear friend or relation that was the trial of his patience, and that suggested to him these meditations of morality; and at the same time, it should seem too, he himself was weak and ill, and under some prevailing distemper. His enemies likewise were seeking advantages against him, and watched for his halting, that they might have something to reproach him for. Thus aggrieved, I. He relates the struggle that was in his breast between grace and corruption, between passion and patience, Ps 39 1-3. II. He meditates upon the doctrine of man's frailty and mortality, and prays to God to instruct him in it, Ps 39 4-6. III. He applies to God for the pardon of his sons, the removal of his afflictions, and the lengthening out of his life till he was ready for death, Ps 39 7-13. This is a funeral psalm, and very proper for the occasion; in singing it we should get our hearts duly affected with the brevity, uncertainty, and calamitous state of human life; and those on whose comforts God has, by death, made breaches, will find this psalm of great use to them, in order to their obtaining what we ought much to aim at under such an affliction, which is to get it sanctified to us for our spiritual benefit and to get our hearts reconciled to the holy will of God in it.
1-6
Devout Reflections; Brevity and Vanity of Life
简体中文
虔诚的反思；生命的短促与虚妄
交与伶长耶杜顿。大卫的诗。
¹ 我曾说：我要谨慎我的言行，免得我的舌头犯罪，恶人在我面前的时候，我要用嚼环勒住我的口。
² 我默然无声，连好话也不出口，我的愁苦就发动了。
³ 我的心在我里面发热，我默想的时候，火就烧起，我便用舌头说话。
⁴ 耶和华啊，求你叫我晓得我身之终，我寿之数有多少，使我知道我的生命何等短促。
⁵ 看哪，你使我的年日窄如手掌，我的一生在你面前如同无有，各人最稳妥的时候，真是全然虚妄。（细拉）
⁶ 世人行动实系幻影，他们忙乱真是枉然，积蓄财宝，却不知将来有谁收取。
大卫在此回忆并记录下自己在患难之下心中的动态；我们如此行也是好的——好叫从前所想的不当得以改正，所想得妥的得以在下次改进。
一、他记起自己向神所立的约——要谨慎而行，对自己所行、所言都十分小心。每逢我们受试探犯罪、濒临跌倒之时，我们都当回想自己针对罪——尤其是针对我们正临其边缘的某样罪——所郑重所立的愿。神能、也必提醒我们（耶20:20：「你曾说：我必不顺从」），因此我们当自己提醒自己。大卫在此正是如此。
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他记起自己曾决意，整体而言，要在自己的行止上十分谨慎小心（诗39:1）：「我曾『说』，我要谨慎我的言行」——这话他立得好，他绝不收回，故绝不可反悔。注意，（1）我们每人最大的要务，便是谨慎自己的道——即在别人放胆乱行之时，自己谨慎而行。（2）我们当坚定地决意要谨慎自己的道，并屡次更新这决意。捆得牢，找得着。（3）既已决意谨慎自己的道，便当在一切场合提醒自己这决意，因为这是永不可忘的约，我们当常常记在心上。
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他记起自己曾特别针对舌头之罪立约——不「用舌头」犯罪，不说坏话得罪神或「得罪正直人的世代」（诗73:15）。在心思上不犯罪，并不如我们所愿那么容易；但即便有恶念在他心中兴起，他也要「用手捂口」把它压下，使之不再前行；这是如此大的成就——「若有人在话语上没有过失，他就是完全人」；又是如此必须的事——「似乎虔诚，却不勒住舌头」的，圣经宣告「他的虔诚是虚的」。大卫曾决意，（1）要在一切时候防备舌头之罪：「我要用嚼环勒住我的口」。他要给它戴上嚼环，如同戴在头上；操练中的儆醒，就是放在嚼环上的手。他要给它戴上口套，如同戴在凶猛害人的恶狗上；借特别坚定的决意，可拦阻腐败从嘴唇爆发，便是套上口套。（2）要在最易失礼之时，加倍防范：「恶人在我面前的时候」。他与恶人同处之时，要谨防说何事会刚硬他们、或给他们亵渎的机会。善人若落入恶人同伴之中，必须谨慎所言。或者，「恶人在我面前的时候」——在我的心思中。当他沉思恶人的骄傲权势、昌盛兴旺之时，他便受试探说出不当说的话；因此那时他特别小心所言。注意，对罪的试探越强，对罪的抗拒之决心也当越强。
二、遵照这些约，他好不容易勒住了舌头（诗39:2）：「我默然无声，连好话也不出口」。他的沉默是值得称赞的；挑衅越大，他的沉默越值得称赞。借儆醒和决意，并在神恩典的能力中，能作成勒住舌头远超我们所想，尽管它是难以制服的恶。但他「连好话也不出口」，又当如何看呢？在恶人面前避免说好的交谈，因为不愿「把珍珠丢在猪前」，是他的智慧吗？我倒以为这是他的软弱；因为他不可说什么，他便什么都不说，陷入极端——这是律法的羞辱，因为律法规定的是两极端之间的中道。那禁止一切坏话的同一样律法，也「要随事说造就人的好话」（弗4:29）。
三、他越少说话，便越加思想，也越加火热。捆住病处，不过是把体液引到那里：「我的愁苦就发动了，我的心在我里面发热」（诗39:3）。他能勒住舌头，却不能制住激情；他虽压住烟，烟却如骨中的火，当他沉思自己的患难和恶人的昌盛之时，火就烧起。注意，那些性情烦躁不满的人，不当时常沉思，因为当他们任心思停留在灾祸之因上时，他们不满之火便得了燃料，烧得更猛。不耐烦是罪，其恶因在我们里面，就是沉思；其恶果也临到我们身上，不外是焚烧。我们若要预防不受约束之激情的祸害，便必须矫正不受约束之思想的祸害。
四、当他至终开口时，却说得中肯：「我便用舌头说话」。有人认为他所说的是破坏了好决意，并断定他在所说的话中犯了舌头的罪；如此他们便把下文看作如同以利亚（王上19:4）和约伯（伯6:8,9）那样求死的激情之愿。我倒以为这并非破坏好决意，而是他纠正先前持守太过的偏差；他曾「连好话也不出口」，如今他不再如此沉默。他对在面前的恶人无话可说，因为他不知在他们面前如何措辞，但经过长久沉思之后，他所发的第一句话，是祷告，是一段虔诚的默想——其题目我们众人都当多多思想。
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他求神使他觉得生命的短促无常和死亡的临近（诗39:4）：「耶和华啊，求你叫我『晓得我身之终，我寿之数有多少』」。他不是说：「主啊，让我知道我还能活多久，何时死」。我们不能凭信心如此祷告；因为神没有应许让我们知道，而是在智慧中把这知识锁在「不属我们的隐秘事」之中，并且我们知了也无益。但「主啊，叫我晓得我身之终」，意思是：「主啊，赐我智慧和恩典去思考它（申32:29），去应用我所知关于它的事」。「活人知道自己必死」（传9:5），但少有人愿意思想死；因此我们需祷告求神借他的恩典胜过我们败坏心中对死之思想的厌恶。「主啊，叫我思考」（1）「死是什么。它是我的终——我生命并一切职业和享受的终结。它是众人的结局」（传7:2）。它是我们受试验和预备之状况的终点，是进入赏赐报应之状况的可畏入口。对恶人它是诸乐的终结；对敬虔人它是诸忧的终结。「主啊，求你叫我晓得我的终，叫我更熟识死，使它更熟悉于我（伯17:14），并使我对这一改变之大更有感触。主啊，求你叫我想到死是一件何等严肃的事。」（2）「它有多近。主啊，求你叫我思考我寿之数——它们是在神的谋虑中被量定的」（终是固定的终——这字的含义；「我的日子已经定了」，伯14:5），「并且这尺度极其短小：我的日子很快就要数完结束」。当我们看死为远处之事，便受试探推迟必要的预备；但当我们思想生命何其短促，便看见自己当尽心竭力速速作「手所当 found 之事」，不仅尽一切力量，更尽一切 speed。（3）它在我们里面不住地作工：「主啊，求你叫我思考我何其脆弱，生命的本钱何其微薄，那如油一般使这灯燃着的灵何其微弱」。我们每日的经历告诉我们这「地上帐棚式」的房屋正在朽坏衰残：「主啊，求你叫我们思考这事，好使我们得以确保那不是人手所造的房屋中的永恒住处」。
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他默想生命的短促和虚妄，借之以在生命的重担下向神求宽解（如约伯屡次所作），并借之以激励自己尽生命的本分。
（1）人在世的生命短促而不久，这是当 sit loose 于其上、为之终作预备的理由（诗39:5）：「看哪，你使我的年日『窄如手掌』」——四指之宽，一定的尺度，小尺度，且其尺度常在我们身上、在我们眼前。我们无需用尺、用竿、用准绳来量我们日子的尺寸，也无需用算术的技巧来计算其数目。不；我们把它的标准放在指尖上，并且无可加增；全部不过一个手掌之宽。我们的时间短促，是神使它如此；因为「我们一生的月数都在他那里」。它短促，他也知道它短促：「在你面前如同无有」。他「记得我们的日子何其短促」（诗79:47）。「与你相比，它便是无有」（有人如此读）。一切时间与神的永恒相比都是无有，何况我们所得的分。
（2）人在世的生命虚妄无值，因此贪恋它是愚妄，确保更好的生命才是智慧。Adam 是 Abel——「人就是虚妄」（原文双关），在他如今的状态中。他不是他外表所显出的那样，他所得的不是他给自己所应许的。他和他的诸般安慰都处于持续的不定之中；若没有此世之后另一生命，那么全面考量，他就是徒然被造。他是虚妄；他是必死的，他是会变的。请观察，[1] 此真理在此被表达得何等有力。第一，「各人最稳妥的时候，真是『全然虚妄』」——无一例外，高低贵贱、贫富贵贱都在此相遇。第二，他「最稳妥的时候」如此——当他年轻力壮、健康、富足尊荣、登峰造极、最安逸、最愉快、最安稳，以为自己「的山立得稳固」之时。第三，他是「全然」虚妄——如你所能想象的那么虚妄。「一切人完全是虚妄」（可如此读）；他周围一切都不定；除了关乎新人之外，没有什么是坚实耐久的。第四，「真是」如此。这是无可置疑的真理，只是我们极不愿意相信，需要郑重向我们证实，事实也是如此——借多例向我们证实。第五，加上「细拉」——这是命令人留意的记号。「在此停住，静默片时，好叫你们花时间思考并应用这真理——『各人……真是全然虚妄』。」我们自己也是如此。[2] 为证明人的虚妄——作为必死的人——他在此提到三件事，并指出每一样的虚妄（诗39:6）。第一，我们喜乐尊荣的虚妄：「世人『行动』实系『幻影』」——当他在排场中行走、在宴乐中行走时，他是「一个影子，一个影像，一个虚幻的 show」。当他显赫一时，他的款式也终会过去，他的大排场不过是大幻想（徒25:23）。它不过是一个 show，因此是一个虚妄的 show，如虹霓一般——它那华丽的颜色在它的载体不过是云雾、蒸气之时，必速速消逝；生命如此（雅4:14），因此生命的一切华丽也如此。第二，我们忧伤恐惧的虚妄：「他们『忙乱』真是『枉然』」。我们的不安往往无根据（我们无故地苦恼自己，我们烦恼的缘由往往是我们自己幻想的产物），也总是无果效；我们徒然使自己不安，因为我们尽其一切不安，不能改变事物的本性，也不能改变神的旨意；我们无论怎样为之不安，事情仍照旧。第三，我们关怀劳苦的虚妄。人费大辛苦「积蓄财宝」，那些财宝却如田垄上的一堆堆粪，除非撒开便一无是处。但当他用他的废物装满了宝库，他「却不知将来有谁收取」，也不知道他离去之后归给谁，因为他不能携带同去。他不问：「我劳碌为谁？」这就是他的愚妄（传4:8）。即便他问，他也无法知道那是智是愚、是友是敌（传2:19）。「这也是虚妄」。
orihinal na Ingles
Devout Reflections; Brevity and Vanity of Life
To the chief musician, even to Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
¹ I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
² I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
³ My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
⁴ LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
⁵ Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
⁶ Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
David here recollects, and leaves upon record, the workings of his heart under his afflictions; and it is good for us to do so, that what was thought amiss may be amended, and what was well thought of may be improved the next time.
I. He remembered the covenants he had made with God to walk circumspectly, and to be very cautious both of what he did and what he said. When at any time we are tempted to sin, and are in danger of falling into it, we must call to mind the solemn vows we have made against sin, against the particular sin we are upon the brink of. God can, and will, remind us of them (Jer 20:20, Thou saidst, I will not transgress), and therefore we ought to remind ourselves of them. So David did here.
1. He remembers that he had resolved, in general, to be very cautious and circumspect in his walking (Ps 39:1): I said, I will take heed to my ways; and it was well said, and what he would never unsay and therefore must never gainsay. Note, (1.) It is the great concern of every one of us to take heed to our ways, that is, to walk circumspectly, while others walk at all adventures. (2.) We ought stedfastly to resolve that we will take heed to our ways, and frequently to renew that resolution. Fast bind, fast find. (3.) Having resolved to take heed to our ways, we must, upon all occasions, remind ourselves of that resolution, for it is a covenant never to be forgotten, but which we must be always mindful of.
2. He remembers that he had in particular covenanted against tongue-sins—that he would not sin with his tongue, that he would not speak amiss, either to offend God or offend the generation of the righteous, Ps 73:15. It is not so easy as we could wish not to sin in thought; but, if an evil thought should arise in his mind, he would lay his hand upon his mouth, and suppress it, that it should go no further: and this is so great an attainment that, if any offend not in word, the same is a perfect man; and so needful a one that of him who seems to be religious, but bridles not his tongue, it is declared His religion is vain. David had resolved, (1.) That he would at all times watch against tongue-sins: "I will keep a bridle, or muzzle, upon my mouth." He would keep a bridle upon it, as upon the head; watchfulness in the act and exercise is the hand upon the bridle. He would keep a muzzle upon it, as upon an unruly dog that is fierce and does mischief; by particular stedfast resolution corruption is restrained from breaking out at the lips, and so is muzzled. (2.) That he would double his guard against them when there was most danger of scandal—when the wicked is before me. When he was in company with the wicked he would take heed of saying any thing that might harden them or give occasion to them to blaspheme. If good men fall into bad company, they must take heed what they say. Or, when the wicked is before me, in my thoughts. When he was contemplating the pride and power, the prosperity and flourishing estate, of evil-doers, he was tempted to speak amiss; and therefore then he would take special care what he said. Note, The stronger the temptation to a sin is the stronger the resolution must be against it.
II. Pursuant to these covenants he made a shift with much ado to bridle his tongue (Ps 39:2): I was dumb with silence; I held my peace even from good. His silence was commendable; and the greater the provocation was the more praiseworthy was his silence. Watchfulness and resolution, in the strength of God's grace, will do more towards the bridling of the tongue than we can imagine, though it be an unruly evil. But what shall we say of his keeping silence even from good? Was it his wisdom that he refrained from good discourse when the wicked were before him, because he would not cast pearls before swine? I rather think it was his weakness; because he might not say any thing, he would say nothing, but ran into an extreme, which was a reproach to the law, for that prescribes a mean between extremes. The same law which forbids all corrupt communication requires that which is good and to the use of edifying, Eph 4:29.
III. The less he spoke the more he thought and the more warmly. Binding the distempered part did but draw the humour to it: My sorrow was stirred, my heart was hot within me, Ps 39:3. He could bridle his tongue, but he could not keep his passion under; though he suppressed the smoke, that was as a fire in his bones, and, while he was musing upon his afflictions and upon the prosperity of the wicked, the fire burned. Note, Those that are of a fretful discontented spirit ought not to pore much, for, while they suffer their thoughts to dwell upon the causes of the calamity, the fire of their discontent is fed with fuel and burns the more furiously. Impatience is a sin that has its ill cause within ourselves, and that is musing, and its ill effects upon ourselves, and that is no less than burning. If therefore we would prevent the mischief of ungoverned passions, we must redress the grievance of ungoverned thoughts.
IV. When he did speak, at last, it was to the purpose: At the last I spoke with my tongue. Some make what he said to be the breach of his good purpose, and conclude that, in what he said, he sinned with his tongue; and so they make what follows to be a passionate wish that he might die, like Elijah (1Ki 19:4) and Job, Job 6:8,9. But I rather take it to be, not the breach of his good purpose, but the reformation of his mistake in carrying it too far; he had kept silence from good, but now he would so keep silence no longer. He had nothing to say to the wicked that were before him, for to them he knew not how to place his words, but, after long musing, the first word he said was a prayer, and a devout meditation upon a subject which it will be good for us all to think much of.
1. He prays to God to make him sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of life and the near approach of death (Ps 39:4): Lord, make me to know my end and the measure of my days. He does not mean, "Lord, let me know how long I shall live and when I shall die." We could not, in faith, pray such a prayer; for God has nowhere promised to let us know, but has, in wisdom, locked up that knowledge among the secret things which belong not to us, nor would it be good for us to know it. But, Lord, make me to know my end, means, "Lord, give me wisdom and grace to consider it (De 32:29) and to improve what I know concerning it." The living know that they shall die (Ec 9:5), but few care for thinking of death; we have therefore need to pray that God by his grace would conquer that aversion which is in our corrupt hearts to the thoughts of death. "Lord, make me to consider," (1.) "What death is. It is my end, the end of my life, and all the employments and enjoyments of life. It is the end of all men," Ec 7:2. It is a final period to our state of probation and preparation, and an awful entrance upon a state of recompence and retribution. To the wicked man it is the end of all joys; to a godly man it is the end of all griefs. "Lord, give me to know my end, to be better acquainted with death, to make it more familiar to me (Job 17:14), and to be more affected with the greatness of the change. Lord, give me to consider what a serious thing it is to die." (2.) "How near it is. Lord, give me to consider the measure of my days, that they are measured in the counsel of God" (the end is a fixed end, so the word signifies; my days are determined, Job 14:5) "and that the measure is but short: My days will soon be numbered and finished." When we look upon death as a thing at a distance we are tempted to adjourn the necessary preparations for it; but, when we consider how short life is, we shall see ourselves concerned to do what our hand finds to do, not only with all our might, but with all possible expedition. (3.) That it is continually working in us: "Lord, give me to consider how frail I am, how scanty the stock of life is, and how faint the spirits which are as the oil to keep that lamp burning." We find by daily experience that the earthly house of this tabernacle is mouldering and going to decay: "Lord, make us to consider this, that we may secure mansions in the house not made with hands."
2. He meditates upon the brevity and vanity of life, pleading them with God for relief under the burdens of life, as Job often, and pleading them with himself for his quickening to the business of life.
(1.) Man's life on earth is short and of no continuance, and that is a reason why we should sit loose to it and prepare for the end of it (Ps 39:5): Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth, the breadth of four fingers, a certain dimension, a small one, and the measure whereof we have always about us, always before our eyes. We need no rod, no pole, no measuring line, wherewith to take the dimension of our days, nor any skill in arithmetic wherewith to compute the number of them. No; we have the standard of them at our fingers' end, and there is no multiplication of it; it is but one hand-breadth in all. Our time is short, and God has made it so; for the number of our months is with him. It is short, and he knows it to be so: It is as nothing before thee. He remembers how short our time is, Ps 79:47. It is nothing in comparison with thee; so some. All time is nothing to God's eternity, much less our share of time.
(2.) Man's life on earth is vain and of no value, and therefore it is folly to be fond of it and wisdom to make sure of a better life. Adam is Abel—man is vanity, in his present state. He is not what he seems to be, has not what he promised himself. He and all his comforts lie at a continual uncertainty; and if there were not another life after this, all things considered, he were made in vain. He is vanity; he is mortal, he is mutable. Observe, [1.] How emphatically this truth is expressed here. First, Every man is vanity, without exception; high and low, rich and poor, all meet in this. Secondly, He is so at his best estate, when he is young, and strong, and healthful, in wealth and honour, and the height of prosperity; when he is most easy, and merry, and secure, and thinks his mountain stands strong. Thirdly, He is altogether vanity, as vain as you can imagine. All man is all vanity (so it may be read); every thing about him is uncertain; nothing is substantial and durable but what relates to the new man. Fourthly, Verily he is so. This is a truth of undoubted certainty, but which we are very unwilling to believe and need to have solemnly attested to us, as indeed it is by frequent instances. Fifthly, Selah is annexed, as a note commanding observation. "Stop here, and pause awhile, that you may take time to consider and apply this truth, that every man is vanity." We ourselves are so. [2.] For the proof of the vanity of man, as mortal, he here mentions three things, and shows the vanity of each of them, Ps 39:6. First, The vanity of our joys and honours: Surely every man walks (even when he walks in state, when he walks in pleasure) in a shadow, in an image, in a vain show. When he makes a figure his fashion passes away, and his great pomp is but great fancy, Ac 25:23. It is but a show, and therefore a vain show, like the rainbow, the gaudy colours of which must needs vanish and disappear quickly when the substratum is but a cloud, a vapour; such is life (Jam 4:14), and therefore such are all the gaieties of it. Secondly, The vanity of our griefs and fears. Surely they are disquieted in vain. Our disquietudes are often groundless (we vex ourselves without any just cause, and the occasions of our trouble are often the creatures of our own fancy and imagination), and they are always fruitless; we disquiet ourselves in vain, for we cannot, with all our disquietment, alter the nature of things nor the counsel of God; things will be as they are when we have disquieted ourselves ever so much about them. Thirdly, The vanity of our cares and toils. Man takes a great deal of pains to heap up riches, and they are but like heaps of manure in the furrows of the field, good for nothing unless they be spread. But, when he has filled his treasures with his trash, he knows not who shall gather them, nor to whom they shall descend when he is gone; for he shall not take them away with him. He asks not, For whom do I labour? and that is his folly, Ec 4:8. But, if he did ask, he could not tell whether he should be a wise man or a fool, a friend or a foe, Ec 2:19. This is vanity.
7-13
Confidence in God; David Pleading with God
简体中文
对 神的信靠；大卫向 神恳求
⁷ 主啊，如今我等候什么呢？我的指望在乎你。
⁸ 求你救我脱离一切的过犯，不要使我受愚顽人的羞辱。
⁹ 我默然无声，连口也不开；因为你所作的。
¹⁰ 求你把你的责罚从我身上免去；因你手的打击，我便消灭。
¹¹ 你因人的罪孽，用责罚管教人的时候，叫他的美容如被蛀虫咬一般消灭；世人真是虚空。细拉。
¹² 耶和华啊，求你听我的祷告，留心听我的呼求；我流泪，求你不要静默无声，因为我在你面前是客旅，是寄居的，像我列祖一样。
¹³ 求你宽容我，使我去而不返之前，可以力量复原。
诗人默想了人生的短促与无常，并世上各样安慰所伴随的虚空与烦恼之后，在这些经文里转眼、转心向天。受造之物既无实在的满足，那满足便可在 神里面、在与他的相交中寻见；我们在世上所遇的失望，本是要驱使我们到他面前。大卫在此表达：
一、他对 神的倚靠（诗39:7）。既见万事尽属虚空，连人自己也如此：1. 他对世上之物的福乐绝望，并放弃一切对它的指望：「主啊，如今我等候什么呢？」对于属感官、属时间之物，再无所等候；我对这地一无所求，也无望。请注意，思念人生之虚空与脆弱，当使我们淡泊对世上之物的欲望，并降低对它的指望。「世界既是如此，愿 神救我脱离在此拥有、或在此寻求我份的命运。」我们不能指望常保健康亨通，也不能指望在任何关系中得享安慰；因为这一切都与我们在此的存留一样无常。「虽然我有时愚妄地向世界指望这指望那，如今我已换了心思。」2. 他把握在 神里面的福乐与满足：「我的指望在乎你。」请注意，受造之物所赐的倚靠既已落空，我们可去投靠的乃是 神，可信托的也是 神——这就是我们的安慰；并当因此更加激励我们以信心越发紧紧抓住他。
二、他对 神的顺服，并甘心顺从他圣洁的旨意（诗39:9）。我们若指望在来世从 神得着福乐，就大可在此世凡事与他在我们身上护理的安排相和：「我默然无声，连口也不开」，不发怨言、不口出怨言。他如今又恢复了在诗39:2受扰之前的宁静与镇定。无论他被剥夺什么安慰，无论他背负什么十字架，他都要安然。「因为你所作的」；这事并非出于偶然，乃是照你的安排。我们在此可见：1. 一位良善的 神作成万事，安排我们一切有关的事件。对于每一件事，我们都可说：「这是 神的指头；这是主所作的」，无论其中所用的工具是谁。2. 一位敬虔人因此对这事一言不发。他闭口无言，无可反对，无可置疑，无可争辩。 神所作的一切，尽都美好。
三、他对 神的渴慕，并所献上的祷告。「有受苦的吗？他就该祷告」，正如大卫在此：
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求赦免其罪、免受其辱（诗39:8）。他在求（诗39:10）「把你的责罚从我身上免去」之先，先求（诗39:8）：「求你救我脱离一切的过犯」——脱离我所招致的罪咎、我所当受的刑罚，并那辖制我的败坏之权势。 神赦免我们的罪时，便救我们脱离罪；他救我们脱离一切的罪。他如此恳求：「不要使我受愚顽人的羞辱。」恶人就是愚妄人；当他们想借讥诮 神的百姓来卖弄聪明时，便最显出他们的愚妄。大卫求 神赦免他的罪、不使他蒙羞，这可解为求良心的平安（「主啊，不要任我被忧郁所胜，以致愚妄人要因此嘲笑我」），也可解为求恩典——求 神永不任凭他偏行己路，到一个地步，行出什么使他在恶人眼前蒙羞的事。请注意，这正是我们当儆醒祷告抵挡罪的好理由，因为我们信仰的声誉，与保守自己的纯正，息息相关。
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求挪去他的苦难，使他可以速速卸下现今的重担（诗39:10）：「求你把你的责罚从我身上免去。」请注意，我们在 神管教的手下，眼目当专仰望 神自己，而非仰望别的，以求解脱。惟独那击打的手能挪去这击打；当我们的罪已蒙赦免（赛38:17），并且当苦难如这里已经成全了它的工、我们也在 神手下自卑之时，我们便可凭信心、心满意足地求挪去苦难。
（1）他陈明自己因苦难所到的极大窘境，使他成为 神圣怜悯合宜的对象：「因你手的打击，我便消灭。」他的病势沉重到一个地步，灵力衰竭，力气耗尽，身体消瘦。「你手的打击，或说挣扎，已经把我带到死亡的门口。」请注意，最强壮、最胆大、最好的人，在 神忿怒的大能之下也站立不住，更谈不上与之抗衡。这并非他独有的情形；任何人在全能者面前都必发现自己力量不济（诗39:11）。 神无论何时与我们较力，当他以责罚管教我们之时：〔1〕我们不能质问他争辩的公义，倒必须承认他在此事上是公义的；因为他无论何时管教人，都是为了罪孽。我们的道路与作为自招了这麻烦，我们是挨了自己所造之杖的打。「这是我们罪孽的轭，虽然是用他的手绑上的」（哀1:14）。〔2〕我们不能抵挡他争辩的功效，他必过于我们所能敌挡。我们既无提出抗辩的根据，也无逃避执行的出路。 神的责罚使人的「美容如被蛀虫咬一般消灭」；我们常见、有时也亲历，身体在短时间内因疾病衰弱到何等地步；面色改变；那红润的脸颊嘴唇、那明亮的眼目、那活泼的神情、那含笑的面容，如今在哪里？摆在眼前的，恰是这一切的反面。美貌是何等可怜的东西！那些以美貌为傲、或恋慕美貌的人，是何等愚妄——它必如此被吞灭，且可能速速如此！有人把「蛀虫」比作人——人如蛀虫一般，指头一触便被压碎（伯4:19）。也有人以此比作 神的责罚——责罚无声无息、不知不觉地耗费消磨我们，正如蛀虫蛀蚀衣裳。这一切都充足地证明了他先前所说：世人真是虚空，软弱无助；当 神与他较力之时，他必被发现如此。
（2）他陈明苦难在他身上所留下的良好印象。他盼望苦难所差来的目的已经达到，因此它必在怜悯中被挪去；苦难若未成全它的工，即便被挪去，也不是在怜悯中挪去。〔1〕它使他流泪，他盼望 神也留意这事。当主 神呼召人哀哭之时，他响应这呼召，顺服这安排；因此他能凭信心求：「主啊，我流泪，求你不要静默无声」（诗39:12）。那位不轻易使世人受苦发愁的 神——更不轻易如此待他自己的儿女——在他们的眼泪前不会沉默，要么为他们说出拯救的话（他若说话，事便成了），要么在期间对他们说出安慰的话，使他们听见喜乐与欢欣。〔2〕它使他祷告；苦难正是为激发祷告而差来的。它若发生了这样的功效——我们受苦之时比从前更多、更好地祷告——我们便可指望 神听我们的祷告，留心听我们的呼求；因为他借护理赐下机会、又借他施恩的灵所感动的祷告，必不徒然返回。〔3〕它帮助他淡泊世界，使他的情爱不再系于其上。如今他比从前更加看自己在此不过是「客旅、是寄居的」，像他一切列祖一样——在此世并无家可归，只是经过此地，前往另一个、一个更美的家乡；他绝不视自己为在家，直到抵达天上。他以这话向 神恳求：「主啊，求你垂顾我，垂顾我的所需和重担，因为我在此是客旅，所以受到客旅所受的待遇；我被人轻慢、被人欺压，如同客旅；我除了从你那里——从我所归属的那个更美的家乡——之外，还可从何处指望救济呢？」
- 他求再得片刻宽延（诗39:13）：「求你宽容我」，舒缓我，使我从这病中起来，使我在身体和心灵上力量复原，使我能进入更加宁静安息的心境，并更加预备好进入另一个世界，「使我去而不返之前」——指借着死亡离开此世，从此「在这世上不再有」。有人以为这是一句急切的话，求 神速速差来帮助，否则便要太迟了，正如伯10:20-21那样。但我宁愿把它看作一个敬虔的祷告，求 神延长他在世的日子，直到借他的恩典使他合宜离开此世，并使他在世之日未毕之先，先完成生命当作的工。「愿我的灵魂存活，就必赞美你。」
orihinal na Ingles
Confidence in God; David Pleading with God
⁷ And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
⁸ Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
⁹ I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
¹⁰ Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
¹¹ When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
¹² Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
¹³ O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
The psalmist, having meditated on the shortness and uncertainty of life, and the vanity and vexation of spirit that attend all the comforts of life, here, in these verses, turns his eyes and heart heaven-ward. When there is no solid satisfaction to be had in the creature it is to be found in God, and in communion with him; and to him we should be driven by our disappointments in the world. David here expresses,
I. His dependence on God, Ps 39:7. Seeing all is vanity, and man himself is so, 1. He despairs of a happiness in the things of the world, and disclaims all expectations from it: "Now, Lord, what wait I for? Even nothing from the things of sense and time; I have nothing to wish for, nothing to hope for, from this earth." Note, The consideration of the vanity and frailty of human life should deaden our desires to the things of this world and lower our expectations from it. "If the world be such a thing as this, God deliver me from having, or seeking, my portion in it." We cannot reckon upon constant health and prosperity, nor upon comfort in any relation; for it is all as uncertain as our continuance here. "Though I have sometimes foolishly promised myself this and the other from the world, I am now of another mind." 2. He takes hold of happiness and satisfaction in God: My hope is in thee. Note, When creature-confidences fail, it is our comfort that we have a God to go to, a God to trust to, and we should thereby be quickened to take so much the faster hold of him by faith.
II. His submission to God, and his cheerful acquiescence in his holy will, Ps 39:9. If our hope be in God for a happiness in the other world, we may well afford to reconcile ourselves to all the dispensations of his providence concerning us in this world: "I was dumb; I opened not my mouth in a way of complaint and murmuring." He now again recovered that serenity and sedateness of mind which were disturbed, Ps 39:2. Whatever comforts he is deprived of, whatever crosses he is burdened with, he will be easy. "Because thou didst it; it did not come to pass by chance, but according to thy appointment." We may here see, 1. A good God doing all, and ordering all events concerning us. Of every event we may say, "This is the finger of God; it is the Lord's doing," whoever were the instruments. 2. A good man, for that reason, saying nothing against it. He is dumb, he has nothing to object, no question to ask, no dispute to raise upon it. All that God does is well done.
III. His desire towards God, and the prayers he puts up to him. Is any afflicted? let him pray, as David here,
1. For the pardoning of his sin and the preventing of his shame, Ps 39:8. Before he prays (Ps 39:10), Remove thy stroke from me, he prays (Ps 39:8), "Deliver me from all my offences, from the guilt I have contracted, the punishment I have deserved, and the power of corruption by which I have been enslaved." When God forgives our sins he delivers us from them, he delivers us from them all. He pleads, Make me not a reproach to the foolish. Wicked people are foolish people; and they then show their folly most when they think to show their wit, by scoffing at God's people. When David prays that God would pardon his sins, and not make him a reproach, it is to be taken as a prayer for peace of conscience ("Lord, leave me not to the power of melancholy, which the foolish will laugh at me for"), and as a prayer for grace, that God would never leave him to himself, so far as to do any thing that might make him a reproach to bad men. Note, This is a good reason why we should both watch and pray against sin, because the credit of our profession is nearly concerned in the preservation of our integrity.
2. For the removal of his affliction, that he might speedily be eased of his present burdens (Ps 39:10): Remove thy stroke away from me. Note, When we are under the correcting hand of God our eye must be to God himself, and not to any other, for relief. He only that inflicts the stroke can remove it; and we may then in faith, and with satisfaction, pray that our afflictions may be removed, when our sins are pardoned (Isa 38:17), and when, as here, the affliction is sanctified and has done its work, and we are humbled under the hand of God.
(1.) He pleads the great extremity he was reduced to by his affliction, which made him the proper object of God's compassion: I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. His sickness prevailed to such a degree that his spirits failed, his strength was wasted, and his body emaciated. "The blow, or conflict, of thy hand has brought me even to the gates of death." Note, The strongest, and boldest, and best of men cannot bear up under, much less make head against, the power of God's wrath. It was not his case only, but any man will find himself an unequal match for the Almighty, Ps 39:11. When God, at any time, contends with us, when with rebukes he corrects us, [1.] We cannot impeach the equity of his controversy, but must acknowledge that he is righteous in it; for, whenever he corrects man, it is for iniquity. Our ways and our doings procure the trouble to ourselves, and we are beaten with a rod of our own making. It is the yoke of our transgressions, though it be bound with his hand, La 1:14. [2.] We cannot oppose the effects of his controversy, but he will be too hard for us. As we have nothing to move in arrest of his judgment, so we have no way of escaping the execution. God's rebukes make man's beauty to consume away like a moth; we often see, we sometimes feel, how much the body is weakened and decayed by sickness in a little time; the countenance is changed; where are the ruddy cheek and lip, the sprightly eye, the lively look, the smiling face? It is the reverse of all this that presents itself to view. What a poor thing is beauty; and what fools are those that are proud of it, or in love with it, when it will certainly, and may quickly, be consumed thus! Some make the moth to represent man, who is as easily crushed as a moth with the touch of a finger, Job 4:19. Others make it to represent the divine rebukes, which silently and insensibly waste and consume us, as the moth does the garment. All this abundantly proves what he had said before, that surely every man is vanity, weak and helpless; so he will be found when God comes to contend with him.
(2.) He pleads the good impressions made upon him by his affliction. He hoped that the end was accomplished for which it was sent, and that therefore it would be removed in mercy; and unless an affliction has done its work, though it may be removed, it is not removed in mercy. [1.] It had set him a weeping, and he hoped God would take notice of that. When the Lord God called to mourning, he answered the call and accommodated himself to the dispensation, and therefore could, in faith, pray, Lord, hold not thy peace at my tears, Ps 39:12. He that does not willingly afflict and grieve the children of men, much less his own children, will not hold his peace at their tears, but will either speak deliverance for them (and, if he speak, it is done) or in the mean time speak comfort to them and make them to hear joy and gladness. [2.] It had set him a praying; and afflictions are sent to stir up prayer. If they have that effect, and when we are afflicted we pray more, and pray better, than before, we may hope that God will hear our prayer and give ear to our cry; for the prayer which by his providence he gives occasion for, and which by his Spirit of grace he indites, shall not return void. [3.] It had helped to wean him from the world and to take his affections off from it. Now he began, more than ever, to look upon himself as a stranger and sojourner here, like all his fathers, not at home in this world, but travelling through it to another, to a better, and would never reckon himself at home till he came to heaven. He pleads it with God: "Lord, take cognizance of me, and of my wants and burdens, for I am a stranger here, and therefore meet with strange usage; I am slighted and oppressed as a stranger; and whence should I expect relief but from thee, from that other country to which I belong?"
3. He prays for a reprieve yet a little longer (Ps 39:13): "O spare me, ease me, raise me up from this illness that I may recover strength both in body and mind, that I may get into a more calm and composed frame of spirit, and may be better prepared for another world, before I go hence by death, and shall be no more in this world." Some make this to be a passionate wish that God would send him help quickly or it would be too late, like that, Job 10:20,21. But I rather take it as a pious prayer that God would continue him here till by his grace he had made him fit to go hence, and that he might finish the work of life before his life was finished. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee.
大卫写本诗时似乎身处极大窘境,且因某一缘故极其不安;因他胜过自己的情感、平静己心去遵行他向人所给的那美好劝勉(诗37:1-40)——「倚靠耶和华而行善,耐性等候他,不要心怀不平」——是经过若干挣扎的;因给人好建议易,给人患难中安静的好榜样难。大卫此时所陷之争战,究竟因什么特别的苦情而起,并未显明。也许是一位至亲好友的离世试验了他的忍耐,并引发他这些关于道德的默想;同时似乎他自己也在软弱患病之中,受某种缠绵之症的煎熬。他的仇敌也正伺机寻他错处,守望他失脚,好有所借口毁谤他。他既如此受苦:一、他述说胸中恩典与败坏、情感与忍耐之间的争战(诗39:1-3);二、他默想人之脆弱与必死的道理,求神以此指教他(诗39:4-6);三、他求神赦免他的罪、除去他的患难,并延长他的寿数直到他预备好面对死亡(诗39:7-13)。这是一首葬礼之诗,极合该场合之用;我们唱时当使我们的心适受感于人世的短暂、无常与悲苦;那些神借死亡击打其安慰的人,会发现本诗对他们大有用处——他们当在如此患难中大大追求的,是使其成为他们属灵的益处,并使他们的心在其中与神的圣旨相和。