Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 39:1-2 and following. Indeed, in order to restrain a believer’s own will, God must sometimes use the bridle and the bit (Ps 32:8-11). The Spirit imposes silence on nature in order to make the new life bear fruit and make it speak (v. 2). We who find it so difficult to remain silent, especially when we are harmed, think of the perfect example of the Lamb who did not open his mouth (v. 10; Ps 38:13-15; Esa 53.7-9; 1 P 2.20-25). “You gave me days like the width of a hand…” (v. 6). Brief existence… and yet so madly wasted by so many people in vain agitation to amass earthly goods! (v. 7; Ec 2:21-23). Let us pay attention to the four “yeses” in vs. 6, 7 and 12. Not only is man vanity (vs. 6 and 12), but also “he walks among what has only appearance…” On the stage of this world where the human drama finishes playing out, the characters and the set will soon be put aside. “The present form of this world passes” (1 Cor. 7:31). What is true, firm, imperishable is what belongs to the invisible and celestial realm (1 Pet 1:3-5). Understanding that he cannot expect anything from such a world, the faithful ask himself the question: “What am I waiting for, Lord?” and gives himself the answer: “My expectation is in you” (v. 8). We can also see in this psalm David’s conduct towards Shimhi. Mute while the wicked man was before him, he accepted the punishment of his sin, bowing in silence under the mighty hand of God. It is a blessed path that the soul follows in this psalm, and it is within the reach of the saints of all times to experience it.
Here are the steps: In the face of provocation, the believer, by the force that God gives him, is resolved to remain silent, although at first the pain has been awakened and excited within him (vs. 2-3). But, at the right time, the Spirit brings relief, revives, and sustains the flame of spiritual affections. For this is how He acts – if nature is contained, the new creation prevails. So it is here. While silence is imposed on nature this renewed fervor of the heart is increased and makes this silence and mortification bear blessed fruit. The faithful open their mouths, not to return outrage or to threaten those by whose hand they suffer, but to surrender to God by recognizing their own unworthiness, and accepting all these sufferings from God’s hand in grace, for his good (vs. 4-12). By this holy exercise, he is taught to see himself here on earth in communion with God himself in heaven, and he asks only for the strength to go through what remains of his pilgrimage in a more lively and alert step (vs. 13-14). This is for all of us. Blessed is the soul of the believer, whoever he may be, who passes through these salutary exercises! We should know more about this path that the Spirit traces for us. Thus, in the last days, the repentant people of Israel will accept the punishment of their sin (Lev. 26:40). In the same way Jesus suffered, without a word, the punishment of our peace (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 26:63; Ps. 38). Shimhi plays the role of the multitude that surrounded and covered with opprobrium the holy victim before the governor and on Calvary, insulting him with their lips and gnashing his teeth against him. Akhitophel is the Judas of these scenes in 2 Samuel (Ps. 109).
For Ps. 38 and 39 have a special character: He who is right of heart has sought and awaited deliverance, and forgiveness of sins has been bestowed upon him as a blessing; but in these two Psalms, the residue groans under the weight of the governmental punishment of sins, and he has the feeling of why he suffers at the part of God. In Ps. 6 (v. 1), the faithful begged the Lord to spare him in his wrath, but here he is under the full weight of discipline for sin: the rod has reached the flock outside, the soul inside. It is each of them individually, but it is the residue that is in sight. Those who love pious man and his companions stand far from his wound; ruthless enemies plot against him and seek his life. However, he is before God with all his desire and all his sighs. He is right of heart to God, and he recognizes God, but he is like a mute towards men. The arrows that pierced him are for his soul the arrows of Jehovah- and it is to Him that he has recourse (verses 13-16). The saint bows his head and submits. His enemies are active and powerful, but whatever Jehovah strikes him, he trusts in him, because the soul that is humble recognizes that the punishment is just. It can wait to be delivered from all its enemies. They would be happy if the foot of the faithful slipped, to triumph over him; but the latter declares his iniquity and is in pain of his sin which he acknowledges. He does not apologize or hide his soul before God: it is to God that he cries out, so that He may hasten to rescue him.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Remove your blows from me! Life is so short:
- Language, bad conversations, language must be restrained
Ps 34:14 Preserve your tongue from evil, and your lips from deceitful words; Pr 21:23 He who watches over his mouth and tongue preserves his soul from anguish. Jas 1:26 If anyone believes he is religious, without holding his tongue in bridle, but by deceiving his heart, that man’s religion is in vain. 1 Pet 3:10 If anyone, in fact, wants to love life and see happy days, let him preserve his tongue from evil and his lips from deceptive words,
- Pressure of duty
-He burns like an inner fire Jr 20.9 If I say: I will no longer mention him, I will no longer speak in his name, There is in my heart like a devouring fire That is enclosed in my bones. I try to contain it, and I cannot.
-He calls forcefully like a lion Am 3.8 The lion roars: who would not be frightened? The Lord, the Lord, speaks: who would not prophesy?
He binds the soul to His task Luke 12:50 He is a baptism of which I must be baptized, and how long I look forward to it being accomplished!
-He urges us to hasten Jn 9:4 I must do, while it is day, the works of the one who sent me; the night comes, where no one can work.
-It makes the message imperative Acts 4:20 because we cannot fail to speak of what we have seen and heard.
-It resonates in a sinister way in the ears of the one who hesitates 1 Cor 9:16 If I proclaim the Gospel, it is not for me a subject of glory, for necessity is imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!
- The glory of men, transitory
Ps 49:18 For he takes nothing when he dies, His treasures do not descend after him. Isa 5:14 That is why the sojourn of the dead opens his mouth, widens his mouth too much; Then descend the magnificence and wealth of Zion, and its noisy and joyful crowd. Ez 24:25 And you, sons of man, the day I will take away from them what makes their strength, joy and glory, the delights of their eyes and the object of their love, their sons and daughters, 1 Pet 1:24 For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass. The grass dries, and the flower falls;
- Pilgrimage, life considered as a
Gen 47:9 Jacob answered Pharaoh: The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. The days of the years of my life were few and bad, and they did not reach the days of the years of my fathers’ life during their pilgrimage. Ps 119:19 I am a stranger on earth: Do not hide your commandments from me! Hb 11:13 It is in faith that they all died, without having obtained the promised things; but they saw and greeted them from afar, recognizing that they were strangers and travelers on earth. 1 Pet 2:11 Beloved, I urge you, as strangers and travelers on earth, to abstain from the carnal lusts that wage war on the soul.
From all the above, we note that in Ps. 39, pious man is still under God’s chastisement, but rather with the feeling of the nothingness of all flesh under God’s hand, than with that of disfavor, shame, and fear. The faithful bow his head before God, he is silent rather than let his heart overflow and his tongue speak madly. He could have replied; he could have been irritated to do wrong, but he must know how to contain himself and remain silent when God puts his hand on him: it is the same at all times. The faithful have been silent, even as to the good, and his pain has been aroused; he tells us this in the admirable language of our Psalm. In the end, his heart overflows, but it is to present to God the nothingness whose feeling has matured in his soul. He desires to know his end and the measure of his days, how fragile he is: He sees that everything is vanity, but he sees his own transgression and sin in the presence of the One whose correction consumes the beauty of man like ringworm. He expects the Lord for His deliverance: what He worries about is His chastisement. He has confidence in himself, that he will not let him become opprobrious to the fool. This expression of vanity, finding its level in the annihilation of oneself, is of great beauty, as is trust in God to be delivered from the pride of men, but what dominates is that God deals with our transgressions. Here ends the moral history of the residue from the point of view of its covenant relationship with Jehovah: the residue invokes his name, because it is in relationship with him. That is why we find so much of Christ himself in the Psalms of this first book. The following Psalm shows us Christ taking the place in which he was to be associated with the faithful according to God’s counsel, and then we learn that this position is the truly blessed position. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Ghost. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the faithful, in the face of the wickedness of his enemies, asks to be delivered by the Lord (Ps 41).”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.