Psalm 39

Everyone is but a breath

The subtitle of this psalm is "The Vanity of Life", because it appears that David is scorning human life and human actions as futile in the grand scheme of things.  From the tone he is taking, it sounds as if the king is in the midst of a punishment of some sort.  God is punishing David for something, and David is reflecting that despite his immense power and wealth, none of that matters because God rules over everything.  Any meaning in David's life is on account of God's actions, not his own.  In his despair, he seems to realize this.  

"Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure".  It almost seems to me here that David is is expressing some measure of doubt in God's plan.  It is almost like he is saying "I have served my time, I have not done anymore evil.  I have given my life over to you.  I've been a better person.  Why am I still miserable!"  In public, he stays quiet and does not question God, but in private prayer, "the fire burned", and he cries out to God to alleviate this pain.  He fears that God is no longer listening to his cries for help.  He yearns to love life again, but cannot do so because of his anguish.  

It is striking to me that David cannot love life while he also feels like God is not listening to him.  It is almost like the distance between himself and God is the cause of his anguish.  Twice in this psalm, David mentions wealth.  In verse 6, he says "In vain they rush about, heaping up wealth, without knowing whose it will finally be".  Later, in verse 11, we hear "When you rebuke...sin, you consume their wealth like a moth."  It's not too complicated to see what wealth he's referring to here, particularly when the theme is already the futility of human actions.  Earthly wealth does not matter to God at all.  Any thing God has given you, he can take away just as easily.  

However, David is not weeping over the loss of his material wealth.  He still has his kingdom and his army.  He has no earthly wants, yet, he still anguishes.  God has stopped listening to him.  God has stripped him of his true wealth.  Without his relationship with God, David realizes he has nothing.  He cannot love life.  

David does not give up however.  He continues to love God, and trust that God will soon be with him.  Even in all of his anguish, he proclaims "My hope is in you".  Instead of longing for an easier path out of his anguish, he looks to God, even after he questions whether God's actions are correct.  In our own lives, we often encounter situations where it appears God has left us too, and what it happening to us does not make sense.  

Are our lives lived in vain?  David seems to think so, to an extent.  "Everyone is but a breath".  Some may see this as a reason to turn away from God, but David compels us that it is a reason to turn towards God.  If our lives are meaningless without God, what is the point of living without Him?  Even when God's plan doesn't seem fair, are we better off on our own?  We are not, because that is the essence of a life in vain.  God never promised us an easy life, but we learn here that God is promising us a meaningful life.  We just have to let go of ourselves to give ourselves to Him.

1 I said, “I will watch my ways
    and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
    while in the presence of the wicked.”
2 So I remained utterly silent,
    not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
3     my heart grew hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned;
    then I spoke with my tongue:

4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
    even those who seem secure.

6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
    in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
    without knowing whose it will finally be.

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
    My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions;
    do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
    for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me;
    I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,
    you consume their wealth like a moth—
    surely everyone is but a breath.

12 “Hear my prayer, Lord,
    listen to my cry for help;
    do not be deaf to my weeping.
I dwell with you as a foreigner,
    a stranger, as all my ancestors were.
13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
    before I depart and am no more.”