Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 39:13
O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
13. O spare me ] So Jerome, parce mihi. But more exactly, Look away from me. Cheyne renders, ‘avert thy frown.’
that I may recover strength ] Lit. brighten up, as the sky when the clouds clear.
Parallels for every phrase in the verse are to be found in Job. See Job 7:19; Job 14:6; Job 10:20-21; Job 7:8 (R.V.).
It is, as Delitzsch remarks, the heroic character of Old Testament faith, that in the midst of the enigmas of life, and in full view of the deep gloom enshrouding the future, it throws itself unconditionally into the arms of God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O spare me – The word used here – from shaah – means to look; and then, in connection with the preposition, to look away from; and it here means, Look away from me; that is, Do not come to inflict death on me. Preserve me. The idea is this: God seemed to have fixed his eyes on him, and to be pursuing him with the expressions of his displeasure (compare Job 16:9); and the psalmist now prays that he would turn away his eyes, and leave him.
That I may recover strength – The word used here – balag – means, in Arabic, to be bright; to shine forth; and then, to make cheerful, to enliven ones countenance, or to be joyful, glad. In Job 9:27, it is rendered comfort; in Job 10:20, that I may take comfort; in Amo 5:9, strengtheneth. It is not used elsewhere. The idea is that of being cheered up; of being strengthened and invigorated before he should pass away. He wished to be permitted to recover the strength which he had lost, and especially to receive consolation, before he should leave the earth. He desired that his closing days might not be under a cloud, but that he might obtain brighter and more cheerful views, and have more of the consolations of religion before he should be removed finally from this world. It is a wish not to leave the world in gloom, or with gloomy and desponding views, but with a cheerful view of the past; with joyful confidence in the government of God; and with bright anticipations of the coming world.
Before I go hence – Before I die.
And be no more – Be no more upon the earth. Compare Psa 6:5, note; Psa 30:9, note. See also the notes at Job 14:1-12. Whatever may have been his views of the future world, he desired to be cheered and comforted in the prospect of passing away finally from earth. He was unwilling to go down to the grave in gloom, or under the influence of the dark and distressing views which he had experienced, and to which he refers in this psalm. A religious man, about to leave the world, should desire to have bright hopes and anticipations. For his own comfort and peace, for the honor of religion, for the glory of God, he should not leave those around under the impression that religion does nothing to comfort a dying man, or to inspire with hope the mind of one about to leave the earth, or to give to the departing friend of God cheerful anticipations of the life to come. A joyful confidence in God and his government, when a man is about to leave the world, does much, very much, to impress the minds of others with a conviction of the truth and reality of religion, as dark and gloomy views can hardly fail to lead the world to ask what that religion is worth which will not inspire a dying man with hope, and make him calm in the closing scene.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 39:13
O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence and be no more!
A prayer in the prospect of death
I.
A departure anticipated. Death is clearly referred to, not annihilation. The text suggests the idea of departure–going hence. A traveller departs from an inn at which he has been refreshed; he pursues his journey, and reaches home. A mariner departs from the port at which he has touched; he completes his voyage, and arrives at the desired haven, Also, death is a going hence from present employments, and from present connections, trials, privileges, enjoyments, prospects.
II. The prayer presented. Here is implied a state of weakness–probably of the body. Or it may refer to political weakness.:But yet, more probably it refers to the state of the mind, its depression and declension. Hence he prays that his spiritual strength may be revived. No health is comparable to this in importance. Many are the motives which should lead us thus to pray.
1. Our safety.
2. Our comfort.
3. Activity.
4. Usefulness. Take notice of a man who has lost the power and spirit of religion; of what use is he in his family? He may have natural affection, and may be attentive to the temporal welfare of his connections; but in what does he benefit their souls? Of what use is this man in the church? He calls himself a member; his name is entered among those who have given themselves to the Lord and to one another, according to his will; but where is his zeal for the interest of the church? Would you be useful, as well as active and happy? You must feel the power of genuine religion; you must experience its vigour and its growth. O spare me, that I may, etc.
5. Your dying well pleads for this prayer. Many professors of religion die in a very doubtful way; others give real cause to fear that all is not well; but mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of this man is peace. It may not be triumph, though in some instances this is the case; but it is tranquil and happy.
III. Conclusion.
1. Death is certain–then prepare for it.
2. Live to some good purpose. What is life unless lived to some good purpose? Remember we are Christs, bought with a price. Therefore, let us in life and death seek to glorify Him. (T. Kidd.)
Davids view of the grave
The true mask of the Christian is in his solitary prayer. What men are before others does not say much, but it is when alone that their true character is revealed. But godly men vary much in their experiences, and here in this psalm we find many mingled feelings.
I. An affecting illustration of death. It is a going hence. This true of all. It is not a lonely path, but a highway open to all passengers, and along which all must go. And the traffic is continuous, uninterrupted. And the pace is swift. Swifter than a weavers shuttle, said Job. The wind passeth over it and it is gone. And our going this way is certain and unavoidable. The king of terrors hath no heart nor ears! From his arrest no state of eminence can screen us; and his summons no greatness can control. The added term, going hence, gives the idea that it is no short journey, or a near remove; but that he is going distantly, and beyond all ordinary space! And this going hence is for ever–no more seen. Not that David believed that the soul perished. He knew the contrary. He spake of this world only. And at death we do go hence, and are no more seen in the world!–whether the senator, the statesman, the teacher, the orator, the poet, the merchant. In his family, and in the church. And more especially is the text true of sinners (Psa 37:36-37.)
II. The avowed desire in consequence–O spare me, etc. Now, our strength consists in–
1. Clear evidence of our state.
2. Habitual readiness.
3. A recovery of strength.
III. Wherefore he thus prays–
1. From natural desire.
2. Nervous feeling.
3. Spiritual decay.
4. For greater good and better service.
Now, let the sinner use this prayer. The backslider. The spiritual, for themselves and others. (W. B. Williams, A. M.)
Death
The consideration that at death we are to go from hence, so as to be here no more, is that which makes life upon earth of the greatest moment, and what even good men may sometimes pray to have continued a while longer, that they may be better prepared for their everlasting remove. This the psalmist here does, from the consideration mentioned; having but one life wherein to prepare for an endless state, how earnest was he that it might not conclude till his work was finished, as it was to be done now or never.
I. The notion under, which death is represented, a going hence.
II. How, when once gone, we are to be no more.
III. Wherein our strength lies for going hence.
IV. How much we are concerned to pray that god would spare us, to get or recover strength preparatory to our final remove.
V. That this is the great thing good men have in their eye in desiring life,
VI. When they may be led to pray that God would spare them.
VII. The use of the whole. (D. Wilcox.)
Prayer for prolongation of life
The believer is not at all times blessed with a spiritual and happy frame of mind, at least not in an equal degree; for there are times when sin lies heavy upon his heart. No wonder, then, if he cries out, when death knocks at the door, Oh, spare me, etc.
I. Illustrate the passage.
1. Death is represented as a going hence, or departing from this world–out of time into eternity.
2. When persons go hence, they are said to be no more.
3. Death is often, even to good men, an object of fear and dread. Those who are tired of the wilderness, and long to see the goodly mountain and Lebanon, would nevertheless wish, if possible, to avoid the Jordan that lies between.
4. Where this fear becomes immoderate, it is criminal, and highly unbecoming the Christian character. Are we not willing to be at rest, to be at home in our Fathers house?
5. Yet this is not all he prays for, but that he may recover strength before he goes hence, and be no more. This may include the recovery of natural strength, or that he might be raised from his present infirm and languishing state; and such a prayer was offered by Job. But however desirable a revival of bodily strength may be, spiritual strength is still more so; and the prayer of a good man must be supposed to include both. This recovery of strength may embrace–
(1) A more eminent degree of spirituality and devotedness to God.
(2) Assurance of an interest in the Divine favour.
II. Apply the subject to ourselves.
1. If death be so dreadful to the righteous, what must it be to the wicked and ungodly. Their roots are so fastened in the earth, and their affections so firmly fixed on sensible objects, that it is no wonder they should start, back at the thoughts of dying.
2. Let Christians feel humbled and ashamed that their inordinate love of life should render death so formidable. Have you not forsaken all for Christ; and will you not forsake life itself for him? (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Death deprecated
1. Death is an event of dread significance.
I. It puts an end to our present mode of being. How the change is to be brought about; and what your experiences will be at the awful moment of transition, and afterwards, no mortal man can tell. No wonder, therefore, if in thought of these things your courage sinks, and you cry, O spare me.
2. It, separates us from all we hold dear on earth. Go hence. After all, this world is very dear to us. Here we were born. Here our minds have been formed, and our characters developed. Here we have tasted all the delights of knowledge, of friendship, and of personal achievement.
3. It settles for ever our spiritual destiny.
II. Good men sometimes shrink from death under a sense of weakness and unpreparedness. There are instances of good men who were prepared and ready to die. But such a state of mind is rare and inconstant. The best of men have their times of misgiving, as well as their moments of exulting faith. Doubting Castle and the Valley of the Shadow of Death lie in the pilgrims path, as well as the Delectable Mountains.
1. Strength is needed to face death with fortitude.
2. Strength is lost through sin (Psa 31:10; Isa 59:1-2).
3. Strength may be recovered if sought in due time.
III. Is the souls darkest hour God is a sufficient refuge.
1. He is the Lord of life (1Sa 2:6; Job 12:10; Job 14:5-6; Rev 1:18).
2. He is very pitiful, and of tender mercy (Psa 103:8; Psa 103:13; Eze 33:11).
3. He is mighty to save. (W. Forsyth, M. A.)
Prayer for recovery
When we thank God for our creation and preservation, we are true to an instinct which is rarely overpowered. We shrink from death just as the psalmist shrank from it, who, if he did net regard it as the end of all things, only dimly conjectured of a life to come. We shrink from death, and therefore from that which is wont to herald its approach, the loss of health, the decline of strength. True, there are those for whom the strain of incurable sorrow or hopeless disease has turned life into a living death; these cannot take into their lips the psalmists entreaty and ask to be spared ere they go hence. We have heard men and women pray for death, and press for the assurance that their hour was come; but for most men life is sweet, and strength a precious boon. And what is it that makes it so? Is there something higher than animal instinct, something worthier than even the strong ties of human love to bind us to this frail existence and prompt the prayer for its continuance? Why prolong the vain show in which man walketh and disquieteth himself in vain? Surely that which makes recovery of strength so welcome a thing if once we know what issues upon our use of it, is the prospect of a new probation, a new chance of employing aright Gods wondrous endowment of life. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, cried the king, who hung between life and death; and we, who, whatever we may reverently hope, are told of no opportunities save those given to us here–we who know how much we have done amiss and left undone, may still cry for respite when the close of all is upon us. There is, indeed, no passage in human experience so solemn as the rescue from mortal sickness. Never does God seem to deal so directly with the soul as when He makes life over again to a man by a fresh grant, and even when its shades have begun to fall, adjourns for him the night in which no man can work. What depth of meaning there is in the return to life from the gates of the grave, if only we have eyes open to Gods dealing. Friends rejoice and congratulate, but there is something mere precious than the fondest welcome back to the world we were quitting; and that, I repeat, is the renewal of opportunity, the summons to redeem the time, to repair the mistakes and omissions of the past. Yes, now we see how the years, freighted with golden possibilities, have been buried one by one in the bosom of an eternity which never gives up its dead. Well may we fear, when all looked so faulty and disordered, to face the account we have to give. We have trifled with a high trust, and we would fain retrieve our shame. We have numbered our days now in the glare of the immediate future, and would apply our hearts unto wisdom, and therefore we cry, Oh, spare me, that I may recover my strength before I go hence, and be no more seen. This, far more than the renewal of earthly opportunities, far more than the averting of sorrow from those to whom we are dear, is what gives value to convalescence. The Christian prays to be spared above all that he may learn and unlearn; that he may do more for God, for his fellow-men. He knows that lengthened days, unless it serves these ends, can be no boon at all. (Canon Duckworth.)
Psa 40:1-17
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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!
ANALYSIS OF THE THIRTY-NINTH PSALM
This Psalm was apparently written on the same occasion as the preceding. The psalmist is still suffering as before, yet is silent and patient; but the suffering at last becoming very sharp, he could hold his peace no longer: then he spoke. And we have reason to be thankful that he broke silence, as whoever considers the weighty truths which he spoke must allow.
There are three parts in this Psalm: –
I. His own account of his resolution to keep silence, Ps 39:1, and the consequences of it, Ps 39:2-3.
II. His expostulation with God on the shortness, uncertainty, and frailty of life, Ps 39:4-6.
III. His petition to have his sin pardoned, Ps 39:8; to be saved from punishment, Ps 39:10; and for farther grace and respite, Ps 39:12-13.
I. David acquaints us with his resolution: I said – I fully purposed to keep silence.
1. “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue.”
2. This resolution he kept for a while: “I was dumb; I held my peace even from good,” even from making a just defence.
3. But in this I found great difficulty, nay, impossibility.
1. For all the time “my sorrow was stirred.” My pain was increased by silence.
2. “My heart was hot.” I was strongly incited to utter my mind.
3. “And, while thus musing, the fire burned;” what was within I saw should not be longer concealed: “Then spake I with my tongue.”
II. He expostulates with God: and, being greatly oppressed both in body and mind, prays to know how long he is to live; or, rather, how soon he may get rid of his maladies, false friends, and deceitful enemies. Many considerations render his life uncomfortable.
1. It is very brittle and frail: “Make me to know how frail I am.”
2. It is very short: “Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth.”
3. Yea, when carefully considered, it was even less, of no consideration: “Mine age is as nothing before thee.”
4. It was full of vanity: “Verily, every man at his best estate (in his strength, riches, power) is altogether vanity.” His labours promise much, perform little.
5. It is unstable and uncertain, as a shadow. “Surely, every man walketh in a vain shadow.”
6. It is full of trouble and inquietude: “Surely, they are disquieted in vain.”
7. Man labours for he knows not whom: “He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.”
Notwithstanding all this, he finds that even here God is a sufficient Portion for them that trust in him. Let others toil for riches; admire dignities, empires, pleasures; let them be proud of these, and complain that their life is too short to enjoy them; I have a stronger hold; I am persuaded that the Lord will have mercy upon me, and be my Support in all the troubles and uncertainties of life: “And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee.”
III. On this confidence he again begins to pray, –
1. For remission of sin: “Deliver me from all my transgressions.”
2. For defence against malicious tongues: “Make me not a reproach to the foolish.”
3. For submission under Divine chastisement: “I was dumb, because thou didst it.”
4. For a removal of his punishment: “Take away thy plague from me.”
1. And he adds the cause; – either remove thy hand, or I must needs perish: “I am even consumed by the blow of thy hand.”
2. This he amplifies by the similitude of a moth; and adds a second reason: “When thou with rebukes dost correct man, thou makest his beauty to consume away like the moth,” which frets and destroys a garment. And, for confirmation, delivers his former opinion, which is to be considered as an incontrovertible maxim: “Surely, every man is vanity. Selah.” Mark that!
3. To which he adds a third – the consideration of our present condition in this life. We and all our fathers are but pilgrims in this life: “I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” Therefore, spare me.
Faith has always to struggle with difficulties. Though he was confident, Ps 39:7, that God was his hope; yet his calamities, his sickness, his enemies, the brevity, fugacity, and troubles of life, come ever into his memory; and, therefore, he prays again for them. And this rises by a climax or gradation: –
1. He prays for audience: “Hear my prayer, O Lord!”
2. That his cry, for such it was, be heard: “Give ear unto my cry.”
3. For admission of his tears: “Hold not thy peace at my tears. The reason, as a stranger. Thy grace, thy favour.
4. For some relaxation and ease: “O spare me, that I may recover strength;” which he urges with this motive, “before I go hence, and be no more.” Restore me to thy favour in this life. Hereafter, it will be too late to expect it. Let me not die unsaved!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Spare me; or, cease from me, i.e. from afflicting me; do not destroy me. My life at best is but short and miserable, as I have said, 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. Or, that I may be refreshed, or comforted, eased of the burden of my sins, and thy terrors consequent upon them, and better prepared for a comfortable and happy dissolution.
Before I go hence, Heb. before I go, to wit, unto the grave, as this phrase is used, Gen 15:2; 25:32; or the way of all the earth, as the phrase is completed, Jos 23:14; or whence I shall not return, as it is Job 10:21; or, which is all one, into that place and state in which I shall not be, to wit, amongst the living, or in this world, as this phrase is frequently used, both in Scripture, as Gen 5:24; 37:30; 42:36, and in heathen authors; of which see my Latin Synopsis.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
O spare me,…. Or “look from me” f; turn away thy fierce countenance from me; or “cease from me g, and let me alone”; as in
Job 10:20; from whence the words seem to be taken, by what follows:
that I may recover strength; both corporeal and spiritual:
before I go hence; out of this world by death:
and be no more; that is, among men in the land of the living; not but that he believed he should exist after death, and should be somewhere, even in heaven, though he should return no more to the place where he was; see Job 10:20, when a man is born, he comes into the world; when he dies, he goes out of it; a phrase frequently used for death in Scripture; so the ancient Heathens called death “abitio”, a going away h.
f “respice aliorsum a me”, Gejerus; “averte visum a me”, Michaelis. g “Desine a me”, Pagninus; “desiste a me”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius “cessa a me”, Vatablus. h Fest. Pomp. apud Schindler. Lexic. col. 440.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13 Let me alone, that I may recover strength. Literally, it is, cease from me, and therefore some explain it, Let there be a wall raised betwixt us, that thy hand may not reach me. Others read, as a supplement, the word eyes; but as to the sense, it matters little which of the expositions be adopted, for the meaning is the same, That David entreats God to grant him a little relaxation from his trouble, that he might recover strength, or, at least, enjoy a short respite, before he depart from this world. This concluding verse of the psalm relates to the disquietude and sinful emotions which he had experienced according to the flesh; for he seems in the way of complaining of God, to ask that at least time might be granted him to die, as men are wont to speak who are grievously harassed by their affliction. I admit, that he speaks in a becoming manner, in acknowledging that there is no hope of his being restored to health, until God cease to manifest his displeasure; but he errs in this, that he asks a respite, just that he may have time to die. We might, indeed, regard the prayer as allowable, by understanding it in this sense: Lord, as it will not be possible for me to endure thy stroke any longer, but I must, indeed, miserably perish, if thou continuest to afflict me severely, at least grant me relief for a little season, that in calmness and peace I may commit my soul into thy hands. But we may easily infer, from the language which he employs, that his mind was so affected with the bitterness of his grief that he could not present a prayer pure and well seasoned with the sweetness of faith; for he says, before I depart, and be no more: a form of speech which indicates the feeling almost of despair. Not that David could regard death as the entire annihilation of man, or that, renouncing all hope of his salvation, he resigned himself to destruction; but he employs this language, because he had previously been so much depressed by reason of grief, that he could not lift up his heart with so much cheerfulness as it behoved him. This is a mode of expression which is to be found more than once in the complaints of Job. It is obvious, therefore, that, although David endeavored carefully to restrain the desires of the flesh, yet these occasioned him so much disquietude and trouble, that they forced him to exceed the proper limits in his grief.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Recover strength.Better, Let me become cheerful, i.e., look up with a glad look once more on my face, as the angry look fades from the Divine countenance.
Before.Literally, before I go, and am not. All the words and phrases of this last verse occur in the Book of Job. (See Job. 7:8; Job. 7:19; Job. 7:21; Job. 14:6; Job. 10:20-21.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
READER! let our improvements on this solemn meditation of the Psalmist, (for we are all, as men, equally interested in it,) lead out our thoughts upon the same necessary subject. Have we ever lifted the earnest supplication like him unto God for grace, so to number our days as to apply our hearts unto wisdom? Have we so counted ourselves for strangers and sojourners upon earth, as like sojourners only to make Christ our home, our resting place, our one only pursuit, our one only desire? My brother! I would say, are you a stranger upon earth? Then surely your plan of life, your pursuit, your conversation, your daily walk, will be as the pilgrim, foreign to all the customs, manners, habits, pleasures, and delights of those around. If a sojourner only, then this is not your home, nor are these objects worth your regard. Are you then asking for the good old way the holy fathers trod? Are you seeking the way to Zion with your face thitherward? Is Jesus the pearl of great price, God your Father, the Holy Spirit your guide, the church of Christ your inn, the ordinances of the gospel like waggons on the road to refresh you, and the holy sabbaths like so many wells of salivation to draw from? Oh! how blessed is it to sit loose and detached from all things here below, that we may have our conversation in heaven, that while going home to our Father’s house we may use the world as not abusing it, knowing that the fashion of it passeth away; and, like the patriarchs, may be always on the look-out for that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 39:13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
Ver. 13. O spare me, that I may recover strength ] Ut refociller, reficiar. Job maketh the like request, Job 10:20 . Some breathing while they would have, and a time to recollect themselves, before that last, great encounter. They say in effect, Differ, habent parvae commoda magna morae.
Before I go hence, and be no more
S , Y, , .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
recover strength = be comforted. Hebrew “brighten up”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 39:13
Psa 39:13
“O spare me, that I may recover strength,
Before I go hence and be no more.”
“The psalmist here no longer wishes for death, yet he expects it, and requests of God a little breathing space.
“Nothing is to be made of the expression, `and be no more,’ which was merely David’s way of mentioning death. We have often called attention to the fact that Old Testament heroes certainly believed in the resurrection, although they did not have the vivid and detailed assurances of it which belong to Christians in the New Testament.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 39:13. Go hence means to go from here. Be no more means he will not be living on the earth any more after death.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
spare: Job 10:20, Job 10:21, Job 14:5, Job 14:6
be no: Gen 5:24, Gen 42:36, Job 14:10-12
Reciprocal: Job 4:20 – they perish Job 7:9 – he Job 7:16 – let me alone Job 9:18 – will not Psa 102:24 – I said Jer 15:15 – take
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 39:13. O spare me Hebrew, , 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, , 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, Jos 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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
39:13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, {k} before I go hence, and be no more.
(k) For his sorrow caused him to think that God would destroy him completely, by which we see how hard it is for the saints to keep a measure in their words, when death and despair assails them.