Psalms 39:9
in Psalms 39I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; Because thou didst it.
KJV
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
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This verse in Psalms 39
Commentary
12 notes on this verseI was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. This had been far clearer if it had been rendered, "I am silenced, I will not open my mouth." Here we have a nobler silence, purged of all sullenness, and sweetened with submission. Nature failed to muzzle the mouth, but grace achieved the work in the worthiest manner. How like in appearance may two very different things appear! silence is ever silence, but it may be sinful in one case and saintly in another.
This site's exposition
My hope is in You
on Psalms 39:7-9
The question is answered in the same breath, and the hope is in the Lord. What he asks deliverance from is his transgressions, and with them the reproach of fools. The silence returns, held now before God's own hand.
This site's exposition
I have become mute
Charles Spurgeon and Albert Barnes both rendered the verb as a present resolve, I am silenced and will not open my mouth. Spurgeon called it a nobler silence than the one in verse 2, sweetened by submission. Barnes set it beside the silent servant of Isaiah 53:7.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"I became dumb; and I opened not my mouth" [Psalm 39:9]. But it was to guard against "the foolish man," that "I became dumb, and opened not my mouth." For to whom should I tell what is going on within me? "For I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me; for He will speak peace unto His people." But "There is no peace," says the Lord, "to the wicked." [Isaiah 48:22] "I was dumb, and opened not my mouth; because it is Thou that made me." Was this the reason that you opened not your mouth, "because God made you"? That is strange; for did not God make your mouth, that you should speak? "He that planted the ear, does He not hear? He that formed the eye, does He not see?" God has given you a mouth to speak with; and do you say, "I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because You made me"? Or does the clause, "Because You made me," belong to the verse that follows?
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God · Written before 523.
proposed
Whosoever feareth sleepeth not, and if he sleepeth, he seeth in his dream the cause of his fear; he eateth not, and he drinketh not, and if the force of natural craving compel him, fear is mingled with his meat and drink. Everything which attacketh …
For my part, I realized that this happens to me with your permission, and I waited longer in the knowledge that I would receive help from the same quarter from which comes also the allowance of my suffering.
The Medieval Church1 voice
The patience he had, he shows when he says, "I was dumb." A sign of patience is that when words of reproach are brought against a man, he does not return evil for evil, as Christ, 1 Pet. 2: "When he was reviled, he did …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. This had been far clearer if it had been rendered, "I am silenced, I will not open my mouth." Here we have a nobler silence, purged of all sullenness, and sweetened with submission. Nature failed to muzzle the mouth, but grace achieved the work in the worthiest manner. How like in appearance may two very different things appear! silence is ever silence, but it may be sinful in one case and saintly in another. What a reason for hushing every murmuring thought is the reflection, "because thou didst it."! It is his right to do as he wills, and he always wills to do that which is wisest and kindest; why should I then arraign his dealings? Nay, if it be indeed the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. This had been far clearer if it had been rendered, "I am silenced, I will not open my mouth." Here we have a nobler silence, purged of all sullenness, and sweetened with submission. Nature failed to muzzle the mouth, but grace achieved the work in the worthiest manner. How like in appearance may two very different things appear! silence is ever silence, but it may be sinful in one case and saintly in another.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I was dumb - See the notes at Psa 39:2. Compare Isa 53:7. The meaning here is, that he did not open his mouth to complain; he did not speak of God as if he had dealt unkindly or unjustly with him. I opened not my mouth - I kept entire silence. This would be better rendered, “I am dumb; I will not open my mouth.” The meaning is, not that he had been formerly silent and uncomplaining, but that he was now silenced, or that his mind was now calm, and that he acquiesced in the dealings of Divine Providence. The state of mind here, if should be further observed, is not that which is described in Psa 39:2. There he represents himself as mute, or as restraining himself from uttering what was in his mind, because he felt that it would do harm, by encouraging the wicked in their views of God and of his government; here he says that he was now silenced - he acquiesced - he had no disposition to say anything against the government of God. He was mute, not by putting a restraint on himself, but because he had nothing to say. Because thou didst it - thou hast done that which was so mysterious to me; that about which I was so much disposed to complain; that which has overwhelmed me with affliction and sorrow. It is now, to my mind, a sufficient reason for silencing all my complains, and producing entire acquiescence, that it has been done by thee. That fact is to me sufficient proof that it is right, and wise, and good; that fact makes my mind calm. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
because You have done it For You brought upon us trouble more than all nations.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֶ֭אֱלַמְתִּי | neelamti | I am dumb | H481 → | 9 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶפְתַּח־ | ʾeftach- | I open | H6605 → | 144 times |
| פִּ֑י | pi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עָשִֽׂיתָ׃ | ʾasita | you have acted | H6213 → | 2628 times |
נֶ֭אֱלַמְתִּיI am dumb
neelamtiH481 →9 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֶפְתַּח־I open
ʾeftach-H6605 →144 times
פִּ֑יmouth my
piH6310 →498 times
כִּ֖יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
עָשִֽׂיתָ׃you have acted
ʾasitaH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 2:10“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
it leads to
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- Lamentations 3:38–41
Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High?
- Job 1:21–22
saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
- Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.
- James 1:12
Through
Job 1:21saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 5:15
As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.
- Job 2:10
“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 6:7
For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
- Ecclesiastes 5:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 39; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Diodorus of Tarsus, COMMENTARY ON PSALM 39; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.