For the psalmist there is no clear understanding of an afterlife.  We read that into the text after we are have read the New Testament.  For the psalmist, the presence of God is searing in its justice and righteousness.  He knows that God is just if he looks with righteous judgement on any person’s life and shortens their days, like the boat rental man who shouts across the lake, “Come in boat number 6, your time is up.”  With no idea of what comes next, the psalmist wants God to leave him alone.  The psalmist complains that his time on this earth is too short.  When my father died at age 56, he said it was all so short.

The psalmist wants God’s presence to go away, but he knows that God is omnipresent.  We all must get right with God before the sands of time run out.

Psalm 39

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

 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.^[b]

 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.”

Questions

1. How is the life of those who seem secure described?
2. How does God’s presence in a person’s life affect their view of sin?
3. Where is the psalmist’s hope?
4. Why do youths live like life is eternal?
5. How does knowing the brevity life, God’s justice, and our own sin help us to live life and to pray well?