| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
The Vanity of Life.
For the Chief Musician, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. |
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1 I said, I will take heed to my ways,
That I sin not with my tongue:
I will keep my mouth with a bridle,
While the wicked is before me.
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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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2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred.
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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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3 My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing the fire burned
Then spake I with my tongue:
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The fire burned – A fiery trial. R1937:5
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4 Jehovah, make me to know mine end,
And the measure of my days, what it is;
Let me know how frail I am.
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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 Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths;
And my lifetime is as nothing before thee:
Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. {Selah
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6 Surely every man walketh in a vain show;
Surely they are disquieted in vain:
He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
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7 And now, Jehovah, what wait I for?
My hope is in thee.
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8 Deliver me from all my transgressions:
Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
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9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth;
Because thou didst it.
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10 Remove thy stroke away from me:
I am consumed by the blow of thy hand.
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11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,
Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:
Surely every man is vanity. {Selah
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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 Jehovah, and give ear unto my cry;
Hold not thy peace at my tears:
For I am a stranger with thee,
A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
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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 Oh spare me, that I may recover strength,
Before I go hence, and be no more. |
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