Psalms · Chapter 39

V. 1. I said-I fully resolved. Take heed-To order all my actions right, and particularly to govern my tongue.

Verse 1. I said, I will take heed to my ways] I must be cautious because of my enemies; I must be patient because of my afflictions; I must be watchful over my tongue, lest I offend my GOD, or give my adversaries any cause to speak evil of me.

Verse 1. I said — I fully resolved, &c. “The Psalm,” says Dr. Horne, “begins abruptly with the result of a meditation on the narrow, slippery, and dangerous paths of life; more especially on the extreme difficulty of restraining the tongue, amidst the continual temptations and provocations” which surround or assault us, to speak unadvisedly with our lips. I will take heed to my ways — That is, to order all my actions aright, and particularly to govern my tongue, that if any evil thought or passions arise within me, I may suppress and mortify them, and not suffer them to break forth into sinful reflections on God and his providence. I will keep my mouth as with a bridle — With all possible care and diligence. While the wicked is before me — In my presence; or in my thoughts, as the phrase is understood, Psalm 51:3, that is, while I consider the flourishing estate of wicked men.

1, 2, 9, and Psalm 38:13, 14,) confesses the same sins, (verse 8, and 38:4, 18,) feels the same impending dread of reproach, (verse 8, and 38:16,) and apprehension of speedy death without help from God, verses 12, 13, and 38:10, 17, 22.

TITLE: To Jeduthun—The name of one of David’s choristers, 1 Chronicles 16:41, 42; 25:1-3. His descendants, being also choristers, went by the same name, Nehemiah 11:17. The name also occurs in the titles of Psalm 62, and 77, which see.

1, 2. See on Psalm 38:13, 14. Bridle—Or muzzle, implying restraint, That I sin not—The danger of sinning when speaking under strong excitement, also of being misinterpreted by enemies, led to this resolution. See note on Psalm 4:4; and compare Job 1:22; 2:10.

V. 2. Dumb-Two words put together, expressing the same thing, to aggravate or increase it. I held-I forbear to speak, what I justly might, lest I should break forth into some indecent expressions. Stirred-My silence did not assuage my grief, but increase it.

Verse 2. I held any peace, even from good] “I ceased from the words of the law,” says the Chaldee. I spoke nothing, either good or bad. I did not even defend myself.

My sorrow was stirred.] My afflictions increased, and I had an exacerbation of pain. It is a hard thing to be denied the benefit of complaint in sufferings, as it has a tendency to relieve the mind, and indeed, in some sort, to call off the attention from the place of actual suffering: and yet undue and extravagant complaining enervates the mind, so that it becomes a double prey to its sufferings. On both sides there are extremes: David seems to have steered clear of them on the right hand and on the left.

Verse 2. I was dumb with silence — Or, I was dumb in silence; two words expressing the same thing with greater force. I held my peace even from good — I spake not a word, either good or bad, but remained, like a dumb man, in perfect silence. I refrained even from giving God the glory, with respect to my illness, by acknowledging his greatness and justice, and the nothingness and sinfulness of man. Perhaps the reason why he would not speak at all before his enemies was, because he was unwilling to give them an occasion of triumph, as he thought he should do if he acknowledged his weakness and sin. But he could not bear this restraint long; it became more and more grievous. My sorrow, he says, was stirred — My silence did not assuage my grief, but increased it, as it naturally and commonly does. “There is a time to keep silence,” says Dr. Horne, “because there are men who will not hear; there are tempers, savage and sensual, as those of swine, before whom evangelical pearls, or the treasures of heavenly wisdom, are not to be cast. This consideration stirreth up fresh grief and trouble in a pious and charitable heart.”

1, 2, 9, and Psalm 38:13, 14,) confesses the same sins, (verse 8, and 38:4, 18,) feels the same impending dread of reproach, (verse 8, and 38:16,) and apprehension of speedy death without help from God, verses 12, 13, and 38:10, 17, 22.

TITLE: To Jeduthun—The name of one of David’s choristers, 1 Chronicles 16:41, 42; 25:1-3. His descendants, being also choristers, went by the same name, Nehemiah 11:17. The name also occurs in the titles of Psalm 62, and 77, which see.

1, 2. See on Psalm 38:13, 14. Bridle—Or muzzle, implying restraint, That I sin not—The danger of sinning when speaking under strong excitement, also of being misinterpreted by enemies, led to this resolution. See note on Psalm 4:4; and compare Job 1:22; 2:10.

Verse 3. My heart was hot within me] A natural feeling of repressed grief.

While I was musing] What was at first a simple sensation of heat produced a flame; the fire broke out that had long been smothered. It is a metaphor taken from vegetables, which, being heaped together, begin to heat and ferment, if not scattered and exposed to the air; and will soon produce a flame, and consume themselves and every thing within their reach.

Verse 3. My heart was hot within me — Though I said nothing, I could not but have many affecting thoughts: and “the fire of divine charity, thus prevented from diffusing itself for the illumination and warmth of those around it, presently ascended, in a flame of devotion, toward heaven.” While I was musing — While this fire “continued to be fed, and preserved in brightness and vigour, by meditation on the goodness of God, and the ingratitude of man; the transient miseries of time, and the durable glories of eternity;” the fire burned — My thoughts kindled into passions, which could no longer be confined. Then spake I with my tongue — The ardour of my soul broke forth into such expressions as these that follow. “It is remarkable,” says Dr. Dodd, “in the poetical parts of Scripture, that the whole energy and beauty of the passages are frequently spoiled by the addition of connective particles, which are not in the Hebrew. There is a remarkable instance in this verse, which, in the original, is very expressive, My heart grew hot within me — while I was musing, the fire flamed out: I spake with my tongue.

3. While I was musing the fire burned—My meditations increased the trouble and perplexity of my heart until the heat of my sorrow impelled me to speak.

V. 4. My end-Make me sensible of the shortness and uncertainly of life, and the near approach of death.

Verse 4. Lord, make me to know mine end] I am weary of life; I wish to know the measure of my days, that I may see how long I have to suffer, and how frail I am. I wish to know what is wanting to make up the number of the days I have to live.

Verse 4. Lord, make me to know mine end — The end of my life, as is evident from the following words; and the measure of my days, what it is — How short it is; or, how near is the period of the days of my life; that I may know how frail I am — Hebrew, yna ldj hm, meh-chadeel ani, quam desinens sire, quam cito desinam esse, quam parum durem, what a transient, momentary being I am, how soon I shall cease to be, how little a while I shall continue, namely, on earth. He does not mean, Lord, let me know exactly how long I shall live, and when I shall die. He could not in faith ask this, God having nowhere promised his people such knowledge, but having in wisdom locked it up among the secret things which belong not to us, and which it would not be good for us to know; but his meaning is, Give me wisdom and grace to consider my end, and how short the measure of my days will be, and to improve what I know concerning it. The living know they shall die, but few so reflect on this as to make a right use of this knowledge. Bishop Patrick thus paraphrases his words: “Lord, I do not murmur nor repine at my sufferings; but that I may be able to bear them still patiently, make me sensible, I humbly beseech thee, how short this frail life is, and how soon it will have an end; that, duly considering this, I may be the less concerned about the miseries I endure, which will end together with it.” Thus, “wearied with the contradiction of sinners, and sickening at the prospect of so much wretchedness in the valley of weeping, the soul” of the pious Christian “looks forward to her departure from hence, praying for such a sense of the shortness of human life as may enable her to bear the sorrows of this world, and excite her to prepare for the joys of a better.”

4. Make me to know mine end—The first utterance gives expression to the thought which was uppermost. He would know why he should be thus cut off in the midst of his days, as one not fit to live, and that, if such were the will of God, he might duly act with reference thereto. How frail—How passing away, transitory. Margin, “what time I have here.” See Psalm 89:47.

V. 5. Before thee-If compared with thee, and with thy everlasting duration.

Verse 5. My days as a handbreadth] My life is but a span; spiqamh tou biou.

And mine age is as nothing] כאינ keein, as if at were not before thee. All time is swallowed up in thy eternity.

Verily every man at his best state] bxn אדם lk col adam nitstab, “every man that exists, is vanity.” All his projects, plans, schemes, &c., soon come to nothing. His body also moulders with the dust, and shortly passes both from the sight and remembrance of men.

Verse 5. Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth — The breadth of four fingers, a certain dimension, a small one, and the measure whereof we have always about us, always before our eyes. We need no rod, no measuring-line, wherewith to take the dimension of our days, nor any skill in arithmetic wherewith to compute the number of them; no, we have the standard of them always before us. “The age of man, or of the world, is but a span in dimension, a moment in duration; nay, it is less than both, it is as nothing,” before God — in God’s judgment, and, therefore, in truth and reality, or if compared with God’s everlasting duration, with “the unmeasurable extent and the unnumbered days of eternity.” Verily every man — Prince or peasant, high or low, rich or poor; at his best estate — Even when young, and strong, and healthful; when in wealth and honour, and the height of prosperity: Hebrew, bxn, nitzab, settled, or established: though he be never so firmly settled, as he supposes, in his power and greatness; though his mountain appear to him to stand strong, and, considering his health and strength, and possession of all the means whereby life may be supported, prolonged, and secured, though he may seem very likely to continue long, yet it is certain he is mere emptiness and vanity: yea, altogether vanity — The Hebrew is very emphatical, µda lk lbh lk, cal hebel cal Adam, every man is every vanity: or, all men, or, the whole of man, is all vanity. He is as vain as you can imagine. Every thing about him is vanity; is uncertain; nothing is substantial, or durable, but what relates to the new man and to eternity. Verily he is so. This is a truth of undoubted certainty, but which we are very unwilling to believe, and need to have solemnly attested to us, as indeed it is by frequent instances. Selah is annexed as a note commanding observation. Stop here, and pause a while, that you may take time to consider and apply this truth, that every man is vanity. We ourselves are so.

Ver. 5. Thou hast made my days as a hand-breadth, which is the smallest of the three measures of stature; the span and the cubit being also in use.

5. Handbreadth—Hebrew, hand-breadths, to correspond to days. A measurement of four fingers’ breadth, proverbially used for a brief period. Mine age is as nothing— “Age” is put for the whole period of life. Every man at his best state is… vanity—Hebrew, certainly altogether vanity is every man standing firm. His apparently firm, established state contrasts with vanity. His securest state, made so by health, wealth, power, and friends, is, however, wholly unreliable, it is itself vanity.

V. 6. Vain shew-Heb. in a shadow or image; in an imaginary rather than a real life: in the pursuit of vain imaginations, in which there is nothing solid or satisfactory: man in and his life, and all his happiness in this world, are rather appearances and dreams, than truths and realities. Disquieted-Heb. They make a noise, bustling, or tumult, with unwearied industry seeking for riches, and troubling and vexing both themselves and others in the pursuit of them.

Verse 6. Walketh in a vain show] µlxb betselem, in a shadow. He is but the semblance of being: he appears for a while, and then vanisheth away. Some of the fathers read, “Although every man walketh in the image of God, yet they are disquieted in vain.”

He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.] He raketh together. This is a metaphor taken from agriculture: the husbandman rakes the corn, &c., together in the field, and yet, so uncertain is life, that he knows not who shall gather them into the granary!

Verse 6. Surely every man walketh — Passeth the course of his life; or, goeth about busily or restlessly hither and thither, as Ëlhty, jithhallech, implies, and as the next verb more plainly expresses: In a vain show — Hebrew, µlxb, betzelem, in a shadow, or image. The word is used only twice in the Psalms, here and Psalm 73:20, in both which places it signifies what is imaginary, in opposition to what is real. Man proceeds on in an imaginary, rather than real life: in the pursuit of vain imaginations, in which there is nothing solid or satisfactory. For such are the interests, distinctions, and pleasures of this world, unsubstantial uncertain, and transitory. Or, as some read it, Like a shadow, to which man’s life is compared, Job 14:2. Man and his life, and all his happiness in this world, are rather appearances, and representations, and dreams, than truths or realities. They are disquieted, or troubled, in vain — To no purpose; or without any real or considerable benefit to them or theirs. Hebrew, ˆwymhy, jehemajun, they make a noise, a bustling, or tumult; with unwearied industry seeking for riches, as it follows, and troubling both themselves and others in the pursuit of them. He heapeth up riches — For his own use, he thinks, and for his posterity after him. And knoweth not who shall gather them — Whether his children, or strangers, or enemies, shall possess and enjoy them. The Hebrew word rbxy, jitzbor, here rendered, He heapeth up, signifies to rake together; in which there is an allusion to the husbandman’s collecting his corn together before he carries it to the barn. “The metaphor,” says Dr. Dodd, “is elegant, intimating the precariousness of human life, and the vanity of human acquisitions; which, though heaped up together, like corn, by one person, may soon become the possession of another.”

6. Vain show—An image, or shadow, as opposed to reality, or substance. They are disquieted in vain—Literally, surely, for a breath will they be disturbed. Such is human frailty, “thrown into tumult, raptured, or dismayed,” at what is empty as breath!

V. 7. Mow Lord-Seeing this life and all its enjoyments are so vain and short. My hope-I will seek for happiness no where but in God.

Verse 7. And now, Lord, what wait I for?] Have I any object of pursuit in life, but to regain thy favour and thine image.

Verse 7. And now, Lord, what wait I for? &c. — Seeing this life, and all its enjoyments, are so vain and short to all men, and especially to me, I will never expect nor seek for happiness here from these vanities. I will compose myself patiently and contentedly to bear both my own afflictions, and the prosperity and glory of ungodly men, for both are vanishing and transitory things. And I will seek for happiness nowhere but in the love and favour of God, in glorifying him here, and in the hope or confident expectation of enjoying him hereafter; and, in the mean time, of receiving from him those supplies and aids which my present condition calls for.

7. And now—From this humiliating picture, he turns his thought to God for comfort. What wait I for—Literally, what have I expected? What have I rested my hopes on? Quickly he answers, My hope is in thee—Not in man, not in earthly things, not in doctrines of immortality even, objectively considered or speculatively admitted, but “in thee,” the living God.

Verse 8. Deliver one from all my transgressions] I seek the pardon of my sins; I expect it from thy mercy. Grant it, “that I be not the reproach of the foolish,” (the godless and the profane,) who deride my expectation, and say no such blessings can be had. Let them know, by thy saving me, that there is a God who heareth prayer, and giveth his Holy Spirit to all them that ask him.

Verse 8. Deliver me from all my transgressions — That I may not be disappointed of my hopes of enjoying thee and thy favour, which is the chief thing I desire, pardon and deliver me from all my sins, which stand like a thick cloud between thee and me, and even fill me with fears about my condition both here and hereafter. Make me not the reproach of the foolish — Of the ungodly. Let not my remaining under the guilt, and power of my transgressions give them reason to reproach me as a hypocrite, and a person whose life is not consistent with his profession. And let not their prosperity and my misery give them occasion to deride me, for my serving of thee, and trusting in thee to so little purpose or advantage. He terms the ungodly foolish, because though they profess and think themselves to be wise, yet they are indeed fools, as is manifest from their eager pursuit of fruitless vanities, verse 6, and from their gross neglect of God and his service, who only is able to make men happy.

8. Another painful calling up of his sin in a prayer for forgiveness, and a deprecation of the dreaded scorn of wicked men.

Verse 9. I opened not my mouth — In the way of murmuring or repining against thee or thy providence, as I promised I would not, verse 1. For though, when I looked only to instruments, I was discomposed, and did at last speak foolishly; yet when I recollected myself, and looked up to thee, the first cause and sovereign disposer of this afflictive dispensation, I returned to my former silence. Because thou didst it — Didst send this chastisement: meaning, probably, either, 1st, The rebellion and untimely death of Absalom; in which he acknowledged the just hand of God, punishing his sins: or, 2d, Some other affliction.

9. Compare on verses 1, 2, and Psalm 38:13, 14. Because thou didst it—Much as he had suffered from man, the point of his anguish lay inthe thought that it was a judgment from God for his own conscious ill-desert. Thus in verse 10, thy stroke, the blow of thine hand—recognise the same truth.

V. 10. Remove-Take off the judgment which thou hast inflicted upon me. I am-Help me before I am utterly lost.

Verse 10. Remove thy stroke away from me] This seems to be a figure taken from gladiators, or persons contending in single combat. One is wounded so as to be able to maintain the fight no longer: he therefore gives in, and prays his adversary to spare his life. I am conquered; I can hold the contest no longer: thou art too powerful for me. He cries what our ancestors used to term craven; the word spoken by him who was conquered in the battle ordeal, or trial by combat.

Verses 10, 11. Remove thy stroke away from me — But though I may not, I will not, open my mouth to complain, yet I may open it to pray, that thou wouldest take off the judgment that thou hast inflicted upon me. I am consumed, &c. — Help me, therefore, before I be utterly and irrecoverably lost. When thou with rebukes — That is, with punishments, which are often so called; dost correct man for iniquity — Dost punish him as his iniquity deserves. Thou makest his beauty to consume away — Hebrew, wdwmj, chamudo, desiderabile ejus, his desirable things, as this word signifies, Lamentations 1:11; Daniel 9:23, and 10:3, 11, 19; his comeliness, strength, wealth, prosperity, and all his present excellences and felicities; like a moth — As a moth is easily crushed to pieces with a touch. Thus the Chaldee paraphrase, Like a moth broken asunder: or, rather, as a moth consumeth a garment, as Job 13:28; Isaiah 50:9, to which God compares his judgments secretly and insensibly consuming a people, Isaiah 51:8; Hosea 5:12. Surely every man is vanity — As was affirmed, verse 5, and is hereby confirmed. For though men in the height of their prosperity will not believe it, yet when God contendeth with them by his judgments, they are forced to acknowledge it.

V. 11. Beauty-His comeliness and all his excellencies or felicities. Moth-As a moth consumeth a garment, to which God compares himself and his judgments, secretly and insensibly consuming a people, Isaiah 51:8.

Verse 11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man] twjkwt tochachoth signifies a vindication of proceedings in a court of law, a legal defence. When God comes to maintain the credit and authority of his law against a sinner, he “causes his beauty to consume away:” a metaphor taken from the case of a culprit, who, by the arguments of counsel, and the unimpeachable evidence of witnesses, has the facts all proved against him, grows pale, looks terrified; his fortitude forsakes him, and he faints in court.

Surely every man is vanity.] He is incapable of resistance; he falls before his Maker; and none can deliver him but his Sovereign and Judge, against whom he has offended.

Selah.] This is a true saying, an everlasting truth.

Verses 10, 11. Remove thy stroke away from me — But though I may not, I will not, open my mouth to complain, yet I may open it to pray, that thou wouldest take off the judgment that thou hast inflicted upon me. I am consumed, &c. — Help me, therefore, before I be utterly and irrecoverably lost. When thou with rebukes — That is, with punishments, which are often so called; dost correct man for iniquity — Dost punish him as his iniquity deserves. Thou makest his beauty to consume away — Hebrew, wdwmj, chamudo, desiderabile ejus, his desirable things, as this word signifies, Lamentations 1:11; Daniel 9:23, and 10:3, 11, 19; his comeliness, strength, wealth, prosperity, and all his present excellences and felicities; like a moth — As a moth is easily crushed to pieces with a touch. Thus the Chaldee paraphrase, Like a moth broken asunder: or, rather, as a moth consumeth a garment, as Job 13:28; Isaiah 50:9, to which God compares his judgments secretly and insensibly consuming a people, Isaiah 51:8; Hosea 5:12. Surely every man is vanity — As was affirmed, verse 5, and is hereby confirmed. For though men in the height of their prosperity will not believe it, yet when God contendeth with them by his judgments, they are forced to acknowledge it.

11. When thou with rebukes—Still the psalmist holds before him the avenging hand of God, as in vers. 9, 10, as the efficient cause of his affliction. Beauty to consume away like a moth—Judgments cause the beauty of man to perish, as the garment falls into shreds when eaten by the clothes-moth. The figure is quite common, but startling, (Job 4:19; 13:28; Isaiah 1, 9; Hosea 5:12; Matthew 6:19;) and more impressive in the East, as abundance of clothing was coveted as a token of wealth and rank, with greater exposure to the v[, (‘ash,) or destructive clothes-moth, whose work was stealthy and silent. Surely every man is vanity—Surely a breath is every man. A refrain of verse 6.

V. 12. A stranger-I am only in my journey or passage to my real home, which is in the other world.

Verse 12. Hear my prayer] Therefore, O Lord, show that mercy upon me which I so much need, and without which I must perish everlastingly. I am a stranger with thee] I have not made this earth my home; I have not trusted in any arm but thine. Though I have sinned, I have never denied thee, and never cast thy words behind my back. I knew that here I had no continuing city. Like my fathers, I looked for a city that has permanent foundations, in a better state of being.

Verse 12. Hold not thy peace at my tears — Joined with my prayers. For I am a stranger, &c. — Though I be not only a native, but actually king of this land, yet, in truth, I am but a stranger and sojourner, both in regard of my very uncertain and short continuance here, where I am only on my journey to my real and long home; and in respect of the many wants, hardships, contempts, and injuries to which I am exposed, as men usually are in strange lands. And, therefore, I greatly need and desire thy pity and help. With thee — Either, 1st, In thy sight or judgment, and therefore in reality. We are apt to flatter ourselves that we are settled inhabitants, and can hardly believe we are but strangers on earth, but thou knowest the truth of the matter, that we really are such. Or, 2d, In thy land, or territory, who art the only proprietor of it, in which I only sojourn by thy leave and favour, and during thy pleasure, as is expressed Leviticus 25:23, whence these words are taken. As all my fathers were — Both in thy judgment and in their own, Hebrews 11:13, upon which account thou didst take special care of them, and, therefore, take care also of me.

12, 13. The concluding verses are a prayer for restoration, urged by the shortness and frailty of life. Prayer… cry… tears— “Prayer,” here, must be understood of prostrate pleading; “cry,” or outcry, as lamentable wailing; and “tears” alone could climax the earnestness of his devotions. “When the gates of prayer seem to be closed, the gates of tears still remain unclosed.”—Delitzsch. Stranger… sojourner—A glance at the primitive nomadic life of his ancestors, Genesis 23:4, and 47:9; compare Hebrews 11:9, 13. A “stranger” is a traveller, one passing through a country with no fixed abode; a “sojourner” is one dwelling in a country for a time, and holding property by legal sufferance, but not a citizen: both transient. Oh spare me—Literally, look away from me; that is, turn away thy threatening look and avenging hand. That I may recover strength— Hebrew, and 1 will be joyful. Bishop Alexander reads: “That I may smile again.” Before I go hence—The verb simply means to depart, but is sometimes used to signify departing by death, dying, as Genesis 15:2, “I go childless,” I die, or depart, childless. And be no more—Literally, and am not; exist no longer with living men upon earth, death being represented as it affects our relation to earthly life. On this verse see Job 7:8, 19-21; 10:20, 21; 14:6; to which the metaphors and sentiments correspond. The phrase “I go,” or, depart, is grounded in the belief that the “I,” or ego, is different from and independent of the body.

V. 13. No more-Among the living, or in this world.

Verse 13. O spare me] Take me not from this state of probation till I have a thorough preparation for a state of blessedness. This he terms recovering his strength-being restored to the favour and image of God, from which he had fallen. This should be the daily cry of every human spirit: Restore me to thine image, guide me by thy counsel, and then receive me to thy glory!

Verse 13. O spare me — Hebrew, ynmm [vh, hashang, memenni — Desiste a me, desist, or cease from me, that is, from afflicting me: do not destroy me; my life at best is short, and full of trouble, and thou knowest sufficient for it is the evil thereof: do not add affliction to the afflicted. That I may recover strength — Both in my outward and inward man, both which are much weakened and oppressed. Hebrew, hgylba, abligah, recreabo me, that I may refresh myself or may be refreshed, or comforted, namely, eased of the burden of my sins, and of thy terrors consequent upon them; and better prepared for a comfortable and happy dissolution. Before I go hence — Unto the grave, as this phrase is often used; or the way of all the earth, Joshua 23:14; or whence I shall not return, as it is, Job 10:21. And be no more — Namely, among the living, or in this world.

12, 13. The concluding verses are a prayer for restoration, urged by the shortness and frailty of life. Prayer… cry… tears— “Prayer,” here, must be understood of prostrate pleading; “cry,” or outcry, as lamentable wailing; and “tears” alone could climax the earnestness of his devotions. “When the gates of prayer seem to be closed, the gates of tears still remain unclosed.”—Delitzsch. Stranger… sojourner—A glance at the primitive nomadic life of his ancestors, Genesis 23:4, and 47:9; compare Hebrews 11:9, 13. A “stranger” is a traveller, one passing through a country with no fixed abode; a “sojourner” is one dwelling in a country for a time, and holding property by legal sufferance, but not a citizen: both transient. Oh spare me—Literally, look away from me; that is, turn away thy threatening look and avenging hand. That I may recover strength— Hebrew, and 1 will be joyful. Bishop Alexander reads: “That I may smile again.” Before I go hence—The verb simply means to depart, but is sometimes used to signify departing by death, dying, as Genesis 15:2, “I go childless,” I die, or depart, childless. And be no more—Literally, and am not; exist no longer with living men upon earth, death being represented as it affects our relation to earthly life. On this verse see Job 7:8, 19-21; 10:20, 21; 14:6; to which the metaphors and sentiments correspond. The phrase “I go,” or, depart, is grounded in the belief that the “I,” or ego, is different from and independent of the body.