What Is the Measure of My Days?
To the choirmaster: to aJeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, “I will bguard my ways,
that I cmay not sin with my tongue;
I will dguard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was amute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My aheart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “O Lord, amake me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and amy lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely ball mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
6 Surely a man agoes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man bheaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
aMy hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
aDo not make me the scorn of the fool!
9 aI am mute; I do not open my mouth,
bfor it is you who have done it.
10 aRemove your stroke from me;
I am spent by the hostility of your hand.
11 When you discipline a man
with arebukes for sin,
you bconsume like a cmoth what is dear to him;
dsurely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah
12 a“Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and give ear to my cry;
hold not your peace at my tears!
For I am ba sojourner with you,
ba guest, like all my fathers.
13 aLook away from me, that I may smile again,
bbefore I depart and cam no more!”