Psalms 39:4 BSB — MannaFest

Psalms 39:4

“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Jehovah, make me to know mine end, And the measure of my days, what it is; Let me know how frail I am.

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.

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Commentary

5 voices

Ambrose of Milan

Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms (397)

It is not that he was enquiring about his own death—death is not the end of one who will rise again—but rather his enquiry concerned that end of which the apostle speaks: "Afterwards there will be the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father". … Evil will fade to nothingness, and eternal good will take its place.… That, surely, is the true end. It is not the end of one person alone, but the end of all. Why then does David say "my end"?

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

But, Lord, make me to know my end, means, "Lord, give me wisdom and grace to consider it ( Deut. xxxii. 29 ) and to improve what I know concerning it." The living know that they shall die ( Eccl. ix. 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.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 2 (1870)

Lord. It is well that the vent of his soul was toward God and not towards man. Oh! if my swelling heart must speak, Lord let it speak with thee; even if there be too much of natural heat in what I say, thou wilt be more patient with me than man, and upon thy purity it can cast no stain; whereas if I speak to my fellows, they may harshly rebuke me or else learn evil from my petulance. Make me to know mine end.

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3414: “'Brief Life Is Here Our Portion'” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1914)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

11 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
הוֹדִ֘יעֵ֤נִי	ho.Di.'E.ni	make known to me	H3045 →
יְהוָ֨ה׀	Yah.weh	O Yahweh	H3068 →
קִצִּ֗י	ki.Tzi	end my	H7093 →
וּמִדַּ֣ת	u.mi.Dat	and [the] measure of	H4060 →
יָמַ֣י	ya.Mai	days my	H3117 →
מַה־	mah-	what?	H4100 →
הִ֑יא	Hi'	[is] it	H1931 →
אֵ֝דְעָ֗ה	'e.de.'Ah	let me know	H3045 →
מֶה־	meh-	how!	H4100 →
חָדֵ֥ל	cha.Del	fleeting	H2310 →
אָֽנִי׃	'A.ni	[am] I	H589 →

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
leads to
- Ephesians 5:16–17
  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- John 9:4
  While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
- Deuteronomy 32:29
  If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Proverbs 4:7
  Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
- Proverbs 3:13–18
  Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,
Through
Psalms 103:14
For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
  before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Job 10:9
  Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
- Psalms 78:38–39
  And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.

About Psalms

Saul attempts to kill David (the harpist of Israel) — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Psalms: the study guide →Read chapter 39 →The featured study →

Continue: Psalms 39 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Psalms

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Psalms