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| 1 [[To the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Melody of David.]] I said, [to myself,] I will take heed to my ways, That I sin not with my tongue,–I will put on my mouth a muzzle, So long as the lawless is before me. |
I will take heed – If our ways please the Lord our utterances will be right. R4804:3
With my tongue – The tongue is potent in its influence, beyond any other member of the body, for either good or evil. R4805:1, R4804:6
Thereby we may honor God, or blaspheme him. R4804:3
In the unregenerate the tongue is a fire, stimulating all the fallen passions. R4805:2
The perfect mastery of our words is to be sought by vigilant, faithful effort. R4805:2
To utter an injurious remark against another, and then to add, "I do not know whether it is true or not," is to show that the speaker is exercised by an evil spirit. R2444:6
Keep my mouth – To the end that, when we speak, our speech may be with grace, seasoned with salt, and that under all circumstances we may speak as the oracles of God. R1937:6
Satan and his angels are seeking to subvert the Lord's people and catch them in their words. R5518:2
With a bridle – A restraint, a controlling influence. R4804:3
While the wicked – The wicked one, who tempts and tries the righteous. R1937:4, R5518:2
The evilly inclined of the world, and those with a knowledge of the Lord who are in opposition to him. R4804:6
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I – Jesus.
I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me – So as not to give them any ammunition against me. Jesus followed this when he appeared before Pilate. |
| 2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, afar from happiness, But, my pain had been stirred: |
Dumb with silence – The safest attitude for a saint when being tried. R1937:5
Even from good – From doing or saying what seemed good in my own sight. R1937:5
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I was dumb with silence – So much so that Pilate was amazed. Matt. 27:13-14; Mark 15:5 |
| 3 Hot was my heart within me, While I was musing, there was kindled a fire, I spake with my tongue! |
The fire burned – A fiery trial. R1937:5
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| 4 Let me know, O Yahweh, mine end, And the measure of my days–what it is, I would know how short-lived I am. |
Measure of my days – However vexing our experiences, they will soon be over. R1937:5
How frail I am – Realizing the vanity of all earthly things, and their inability to satisfy or comfort, and that our days are but as a handbreadth. R1937:5
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| 5 Lo! as hand-breadths, hast thou granted my days, and my life-time, is as nothing before thee,–Surely, a mere breath, are all men, [even] such as stand firm. [Selah.] |
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Thou has made my days as an handbreadth – A span. At the end of the 31/2 years of drout, Elijah sent his servant who saw a cloud "like a man's hand." Elijah immediately responded that his servant should tell king Ahab that it was going to rain. Thus it may be that this has reference to a period of 31/2 years (literal or symbolic). |
| 6 Surely as a shadow, doth every man wander, Surely in vain, do they bustle about, he heapeth things up, and knoweth not who shall gather them in. |
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| 7 Now, therefore, for what have I waited, O My Lord? My hope, is, in thee. |
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| 8 From all my transgressions, rescue thou me,–The reproach of the base, oh do not make me! |
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From all my transgression – Having looked this up it may be that the various translations are implying the word "my" here. Rather it seems a better rendering would be "From all transgressions free me." Certainly our Lord had no transgressions to be freed from. For His body members this is not so. We have many transgressions (after the flesh) that we need to be freed from. But we should remember that the New Creature does not sin. - 1 John 3:9 |
| 9 I am dumb, I cannot open my mouth, for, thou, hast done it. |
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| 10 Remove from off me thy stroke, Because of the hostility of thy hand, am, I, consumed. |
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| 11 When, by rebukes for iniquity, thou hast corrected a man, Then hast thou consumed, as a moth, all that was delightful within him, Surely, a breath, are all men. [Selah.] |
Like a moth – When sin deprived humanity of the right to life, immediately the jewel began to lose its perfection of brilliancy and beauty. R279:1
"Yea, man giveth up the ghost (life) and where is he?" (Job 14:10) A209
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| 12 Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, And, unto my cry for help, give ear, At my tears, do not be silent,–For, a sojourner, am, I, with thee, A stranger, like all my fathers. |
And a sojourner – A law-abiding, tax-paying alien, looking for protection under the laws, but not compelled to fight against the rightful king. F594
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| 13 Look away from me that I may brighten up, Ere yet I depart and am no more. |
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