Psalms 39

Psalms 39:1

Ambrose of Milan: Have no doubt about it, when people annoy and torment you when you are doing the right thing, those people are the lackeys of the wickedest sinner of all. They are slaves of the author of every evil deed. David saw this with prophetic eyes and recognized the face of the evil one. So he kept quiet. He had no wish whatever to do the will of the evil one. So he kept quiet. He had no wish whatever to do the will of him who ruins one’s peace of mind. He simply said nothing. He closed his doors in silence; patience lay before him, and silence kept a sleepless vigil. No enemy could creep in, and from his cloistered lips no ambivalent speech, no heedless talk, could issue forth. Mightier far is the patient person who can govern himself than the valiant one who captures citadels. The just person is his own cloister; he is his own eternal guard. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue” [Psalms 39:1]. …For it is not without reason that the tongue is set in a moist place, but because it is so prone to slip. Perceiving therefore how hard it was for a man to be under the necessity of speaking, and not to say something that he will wish unsaid, and filled with disgust at these sins, he seeks to avoid the like. To this difficulty is he exposed who is seeking to “leap beyond.”… Although I have “leaped beyond” the pleasures of earth, although the fleeting passions for things temporal ensnare me not, though now I despise these things below, and am rising up to better things than these, yet in these very better things the satisfaction of knowledge in the sight of God is enough for me. Of what use is it for me to speak what is to be laid hold of, and to give a handle to cavillers? Therefore, “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. I keep my mouth with a bridle.” Wherefore is this? Is it on account of the religious, the thoughtful, the faithful, the holy ones? God forbid! These persons hear in such a manner, as to praise what they approve; but as for what they disapprove, perhaps, among much that they praise they rather excuse than cavil at it; on account of what persons then dost thou “take heed to thy ways,” and place a guard on thy lips “that thou mayest not sin with thy tongue”? Hear: it is, “While the wicked standeth over against me.” It is not “by me” that he takes up his station, but “against me.” Why?… Even the Lord Himself says, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” And the Apostle, “I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal.” Yet not as to persons to be despaired of, but as to those who still required to be nourished. For he goes on to say, “As babes in Christ, I have fed you with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able.” Well, tell it unto us even now. “Neither yet now are ye able.” Be not therefore impatient to hear that which as yet thou art not capable of; but grow that thou mayest be “able to bear it.” It is thus we address the little one, who yet requires to be fed with kindly milk in the bosom of Mother Church, and to be rendered meet for the “strong meat” of the Lord’s Table. But what can I say even of that kind to the sinner, who “taketh his stand against me,” who either thinks or pretends himself capable of what he “cannot bear;” so that when I say anything unto him, and he has failed to comprehend it, he should not suppose that it was not he that had failed to comprehend, but I who had broken down. Therefore because of this sinner, who “taketh up his stand against me, I keep my mouth as it were with a bridle.” — Exposition on Psalms 39

Diodorus of Tarsus: “I said” [has] the sense, “I determined,” his meaning being, I determined within myself not to sin against my oppressor simply in action but also not to say anything against him by word of mouth, especially since what is initially verbal abuse turns to physical abuse, and the person who is determined not to do physical harm ought not have recourse to verbal abuse. — COMMENTARY ON Psalms 39

Origen of Alexandria: In these events one may understand as fulfilled the prophecy which says: “while the sinner stood against me, I was made dumb and was humbled and kept silent from good things”, so that that sinner foretold in these words may be understood to be Caiaphas, who stood against Jesus. At the same time we learn also from this passage to despise the voices of slanderers and false witnesses, so that we neither hold them worthy of our reply, nor defend our own selves where the things said against us are not consistent. For what need is there to resist those who resist themselves by saying things contrary to themselves? Especially where it is a greater thing freely and bravely to be silent than to defend oneself without any profit, so that we may not be humbled by false witnesses and wicked slanderers. — COMMENTARY ON Matthew 109

Theodore of Mopsuestia: It is a universal custom to be upset when you see your plans at the mercy of sinners, and to be upset also at your own misfortunes, especially when you are badly treated by wrongdoers while conscious of your own virtuous behavior. The general run of people react to such developments by turning to criticism and displeasure with the God of all. Hence, blessed David says, “I shall guard my ways so as not to sin with my tongue”: I kept my words to myself, that is, I made a decision and judgment to guard myself against any sin. — COMMENTARY ON Psalms 39:2

Psalms 39:2

Ambrose of Milan: If you know there is sin, be silent. Do not add to your guilt by denying it. If you are not aware of sin, be silent. You are secure in your innocence. The reports of other people cannot nail any sin to a conscience that knows itself to be innocent. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “I became deaf, and was humbled, I held my peace from good” (ver. 2). For this person, who is “leaping beyond,” suffers some difficulty in a certain stage to which he hath already attained; and he desires to advance beyond, even from thence, to avoid this difficulty. I was afraid of committing a sin; so that I spoke not; that I imposed on myself the necessity of silence: for I had spoken thus, “I will take heed to my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue.” Whilst I was too much afraid of saying anything wrong, I kept silence from all that is good. For whence could I say good things, except that I heard them? “It is Thou that shalt make me to hear of joy and gladness.” And the “friend of the bridegroom standeth and heareth Him, and rejoiceth on account of the bridegroom’s voice,” not his own. That he may speak true things, he hears what he is to say. For it is he that “speaketh a lie,” that “speaketh of his own.” … When therefore I had “put a bridle,” as it were, “on my lips;” and constrained myself to silence, because I saw that everywhere speech was dangerous, then, says he, that came to pass upon me, which I did not wish, “I became deaf, and was humbled;” not humbled myself, but was humbled; “and I held my peace even from good.” Whilst afraid of saying any evil, I began to refrain from speaking what is good: and I condemned my determination; for “I was holding my peace even from what is good.”

“And my sorrow was stirred up again” (ver. 2). Inasmuch as I had found in silence a kind of respite from a certain “sorrow,” that had been inflicted upon me by those who cavilled at my words, and found fault with me: and that sorrow that was caused by the cavillers, had ceased indeed; but when “I held my peace even from good, my sorrow was stirred up again.” I began to be more grieved at having refrained from saying what I ought to have said, than I had before been grieved by having said what I ought not. “And my sorrow was stirred up again.” — Exposition on Psalms 39

Evagrius Ponticus: In temptation, good words flee from us and the spirit is silent. The soul speaks about those temptations that it recognizes and is silent about those it does not. In this place “good” indicates the virtues and knowledge that flee in the time of temptation. — NOTES ON THE Psalms 38[39].3

Hesychius of Jerusalem: When he was silent he ceased from good, that is, from the meditation of the Law, which is the teacher of good. When the grief of the sin renewed, the wound from sin became more serious, as when we lead others from meditation on the Law. It becomes a festering sore, having applied no medicine from divine precepts. And so he has not stood in silence, but when he had returned to his senses, he cast out that very thing bringing such harm to his spirit. He shows this by “my heart grew hot.” — Large COMMENTARY ON Psalms 39:3

John Cassian: If insults are offered to you or to anyone else, or wrongs done, be immovable, and as far as an answer in retaliation is concerned, be silent “as one that is dumb,” always singing in your heart this verse of the psalmist. — INSTITUTES 4:41

Philoxenus of Mabbug: Whosoever feareth sleepeth not, and if he sleepeth, he seeth in his dream the cause of his fear; he eateth not, and he drinketh not, and if the force of natural craving compel him, fear is mingled with his meat and drink. Everything which attacketh the man who is filled with the fear of God abideth outside him, for fear keepeth fast hold upon the place of his understanding, and upon all the places of ingoing and outgoing of the city of his soul. Like the watchmen who stand by the gates of the city, even so doth fear keep fast hold upon the places of ingoing and outgoing of the soul, and it permitteth no act or thought to enter in or to go forth which it examineth not; for it neither permitteth any internal thought whatsoever to go forth, nor any external act that is not seemly to go in. And moreover this Prophet maketh known in other places the fear of God; “My flesh contracteth through fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy judgments.” And again he saith, “I am like a wine skin in ice, but I have not forgotten Thy commandments.” And again he saith, “Sorrow is in my heart all the day long. How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn Thy face from me? How long wilt Thou forget me, for ever? How long wilt Thou set trouble in my soul?” And again he saith, “Heal me, O Lord, for my bones tremble, and my soul is greatly moved. I am weary with my groaning; every night make I my bed to swim; and I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye hath become sick because of Thine anger”; now it is evident that all these things arose from [his] fear of God. And again he saith, “I roared by reason of the groaning of my heart”; and again he saith, “Lead me, O Lord, in Thy fear and righteousness”; and again he saith, “There is no soundness in my flesh before the fear of Thee, and there is no health in my bones in the presence of my sins. For my iniquities have gone over my head; and [they are] as a heavy burden heavy upon me. My wounds stink and are corrupt, and in the presence of my iniquities I tremble greatly. All the day long I walk in sadness. For my ankles are filled with trembling. I am much moved, and I am brought to great misery.” And again he saith, “My heart is turned back, and my strength hath forsaken me; and the light of my eyes is no longer with me.” And again he saith, “I kept silent, and I was sorrowful, and I was afflicted even from good; And my sickness was stirred. My heart became hot within me; and in my body the fire kindled.” And again he saith, “I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it. I have come to an end because of [Thy] rebuke of my sins.” — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 – Second Discourse on the Fear of God

Psalms 39:3

Augustine of Hippo: “And while I was musing, the fire burned” [Psalms 39:3]….I reflected on the words of my Lord, “Thou wicked and slothful servant, you ought to have put My money to the exchangers, and I at My coming should receive it again with usury.” [Matthew 25:26-27] And that which follows may God avert from those who are His stewards! Bind him hand and foot, and let him be cast into outer darkness; [Matthew 25:30] the servant, who was not a waster of his master’s goods, so as to destroy them, but was slothful in laying them out to improve them. What ought they to expect, who have wasted them in luxury, if they are condemned who through slothfulness have kept them? “As I was musing, the fire burned.” And as he was in this state of wavering suspense, between speaking and holding his peace, between those who are prepared to cavil and those who are anxious to be instructed,…in this state of suspense, he prays for a better place, a place different from this his present stewardship, in which man is in such difficulty and in such danger, and sighing after a certain “end,” when he was not to be subject to these things, when the Lord is to say to the faithful dispenser, “Enter thou into the joy of your Lord,” [Matthew 25:27] he says, “Then spoke I with my tongue.” In this fluctuation, in the midst of these dangers and these difficulties, because, that in consequence of the abundance of offenses “the love of many is waxing cold,” [Matthew 24:12] although the law of the Lord inspires delight, in this fluctuation then, (I say), “then spoke I with my tongue.” To whom? Not to the hearer whom I would fain instruct; but to Him who hears and takes heed also, by whom I would fain be instructed myself. “I spoke with my tongue” to Him, from whom I inwardly hear whatever I hear that is good or true.— What did You say? — Exposition on Psalms 39

Origen of Alexandria: In the Gospel it was written, after the Lord spoke to Cleopas, “Was not our heart burning within us when he opened the Scriptures to us?” Where will you burn? Where will “the coals of fire” be found in you who are never set on fire by the declaration of the Lord, never inflamed by the words of the Holy Spirit? Hear also … David … saying, “My heart burned within me, and in my meditation fire became inflamed.” From where do you glow? Where is the fire kindled in you? — HOMILIES ON Leviticus 9:9.7

Psalms 39:4

Ambrose of Milan: It is not that he was enquiring about his own death—death is not the end of one who will rise again—but rather his enquiry concerned that end of which the apostle speaks: “Afterwards there will be the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father”. … Evil will fade to nothingness, and eternal good will take its place.… That, surely, is the true end. It is not the end of one person alone, but the end of all. Why then does David say “my end”? But consider a moment who it is that is speaking. He speaks as humankind or as one representing men and sharing the same substance as they; he is one who stands for all, is in the likeness of all and is truly versed in that perfection that belongs to the consummate man. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “Lord, make me to know mine end” [Psalms 39:4]. For some things I have passed by already; and I have arrived at a certain point, and that to which I have arrived is better than that from which I have advanced to this; but yet there remains a point, which has to be left behind. For we are not to remain here, where there are trials, offenses, where we have to bear with persons who listen to us and cavil at us. “Make me to know mine end;” the end, from which I am still removed, not the course which is already before me. — Exposition on Psalms 39

Diodorus of Tarsus: Not even all the possessions amassed nor all humankind, if measured by their lifetime, from Adam to the last human being—not even this measure is anything in comparison with the measure of your life, Lord. — COMMENTARY ON Psalms 39

Evagrius Ponticus: The end of the rational nature is the understanding of the holy Trinity. — NOTES ON THE Psalms 38[39].5

Psalms 39:5

Ambrose of Milan: God, who knows precisely the allotted days of each one of us, regards nothing as immeasurable. His knowledge embraces the measure of all things. To him nothing is beyond his understanding, nothing is unweighed, nothing is unmeasured, nothing is unnumbered. He says, “The very hairs of your head have been numbered.” … We know that God is said to have measured the heavens with the palm of his hand22—the palm, from thumb to little finger, being the span by which a thing is measured and its length ascertained. Those who accept this reading understand that our days are measured or numbered, and in that sense they are short. However, the all-knowing God has measured, as we said above, and fully comprehends the very heavens.… The prophet’s days are not short but great, for God has measured them with the same palm as that with which he measured the heavens. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “Behold, thou hast made my days old” (ver. 5). For these days are “waxing old.” I long for new days “that never shall wax old,” that I may say, “Old things have passed away; behold, things are become new.” Already new in hope; then in reality. For though, in hope and in faith, made new already, how much do we even now do after our old nature! For we are not so completely “clothed upon” with Christ, as not to bear about with us anything derived from Adam. Observe that Adam is “waxing old” within us, and Christ is being “renewed” in us. “Though our outward man is perishing, yet is our inward man being renewed day by day.” Therefore, while we fix our thoughts on sin, on mortality, on time, that is hastening by, on sorrow, and toil, and labour, on stages of life following each other in succession, and continuing not, passing on insensibly from infancy even to old age; whilst, I say, we fix our eyes on these things, let us see here “the old man,” the “day that is waxing old;” the Song that is out of date; the Old Testament; when however we turn to the inner man, to those things that are to be renewed in place of these which are to be changed, let us find the “new man,” the “new day,” the “new song,” the “New Testament;” and that “newness,” let us so love, as to have no fears of its “waxing old.”… This man, therefore, who is hasting forward to those things which are new, and “reaching forward to those things which are before,” says, “Lord, make me to know mine end, and the number of my days, which really is, that I may know what is wanting unto me.” See he still drags with him Adam; and even so he is hasting unto Christ. “Behold,” saith he, “thou hast made my days old.” It is those days that are derived from Adam, those days, I say, that thou hast made old. They are waxing old day by day: and so waxing old, as to be at some day or other consumed also. “And my substance is as nothing before Thee.” “Before Thee, O Lord, my substance is as nothing.” “Before Thee;” who seest this; and I too, when I see it, see it only when “before Thee.”

When “before men” I see it not. For what shall I say? What words shall I use to show, that which I now am is nothing in comparison of That which truly “Is”? But it is within that it is said; it is within that it is felt, so far as it is felt. “Before Thee, O Lord,” where Thine eyes are; and not where the eyes of men are. And where Thine eyes are, what is the state of things? “That which I am is as nothing.”

“But, verily, every man living is altogether vanity.” “But, verily.” For what was he saying above? Behold, I have already “leaped beyond” all mortal things, and despised things below, have trampled under foot the things of earth, have soared upwards to the delights of the law of the Lord, I have been afloat in the dispensation of the Lord, have yearned for that “End” which Itself is to know no end, have yearned for the number of my days that truly “is,” because the number of days like these hath no real being. Behold, I am already such a one as this; I have already overleaped so much; I am longing for those things which abide. “But verily,” in the state in which I am here, so long as I am here, so long as I am in this world, so long as I bear mortal flesh, so long as the life of man on earth is a trial, so long as I sigh among causes of offence, as long as while I “stand” I am in “fear lest I fall,” as long as both my good and my ill hangs in uncertainty, “every man living is altogether vanity.”… — Exposition on Psalms 39

Augustine of Hippo: The life of mortals is a hard cause. What else is it to be born here, except to enter into a laborious life? Of the greater future labor, the very crying of the infant is a witness. From this troublesome banquet no one excuses himself. We must drink what Adam has offered. We were made by the hands of truth, but because of sin, we were cast into days of vanity. We were made in the image of God, but we wore it down through the transgression of sin. Therefore, the psalm admonishes us about how we were made, and to where we have arrived. — Sermon 60

Gregory of Nazianzus: Such, brothers, is our life, we whose existence is so transitory. Such is the game we play on earth: we do not exist, and we are born, and being born we are dissolved. We are a fleeting dream, an apparition without substance, the flight of a bird that passes, a ship that leaves no trace on the sea. We are dust, a vapor, the morning dew, a flower growing but a moment and withering in a moment. “A person’s days are as grass: as the flower of the field, so shall he flourish.” Beautifully has holy David meditated on our weakness … and he defines the days of a person as the measure of a span. — ON HIS BROTHER ST. CAESARIUS, ORATION 7:19

Psalms 39:6

Augustine of Hippo: “Albeit man walketh in the Image” [Psalms 39:6]. In what “Image,” save that of Him who said, “Let Us make man in Our Image, after Our Likeness.” “Albeit man walks in the Image.” For the reason he says “albeit,” is, that this is some great thing. And this “albeit” is followed by “nevertheless,” that the “albeit” which you have already heard, should relate to what is beyond the sun; but this “nevertheless,” which is to follow, to what is “under the sun,” and that the one should relate to the Truth, the other to “vanity.” “Albeit,” then, “that man walketh in the Image, nevertheless he is disquieted in vain.” Hear the cause of his “disquieting,” and see if it be not a vain one; that thou mayest trample it under foot, that thou mayest “leap beyond it,” and mayest dwell on high, where that “vanity” is not. What “vanity” is that? “He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not for whom he may be gathering them together.” O infatuated vanity! “Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, and hath not respected vanities, nor lying deceits.” To you indeed, O covetous man, to you I seem to be out of my senses, these words appear to you to be “old wives’ tales.” For you, a man of great judgment, and of great prudence, to be sure, are daily devising methods of acquiring money, by traffic, by agriculture, by eloquence perhaps, by making yourself learned in the law, by warfare, perhaps you even add that of usury. Like a shrewd man as you are, you leave nothing untried, whereby you may pile coin on coin; and may store it up more carefully in a place of secrecy. You plunder others; you guard against the plunderer; you are afraid lest you should yourself suffer the wrong, that you yourself do; and even what you do suffer, does not correct you. …Examine your own heart, and that prudence of yours, which leads you to deride me, to think me out of my senses for saying these things: and tell me now, “You are heaping up treasures; for whom are you gathering them together?” I see what you would tell me; as if what you would say had not occurred to the person described here; you will say, I am keeping them for my children? This is the voice of parental affection; the excuse of injustice. “I am keeping them” (you say) “for my children.” So then you are keeping them for your children, are you? Did not Idithun then know this? Assuredly he did; but he reckoned it one of the things of the “old days,” that have waxed old, and therefore he despised it: because he was hastening on to the new “days.”…

For He, “by whom all things were made,” hath built “mansions” for all of us: thither He would have that which we have go before us; that we may not lose it on earth. When, however, you have kept them on earth, tell me for whom you are to “gather them together”? You have children: add one more to their number; and give something to Christ also. “He is disquieted in vain.” — Exposition on Psalms 39

Psalms 39:7

Ambrose of Milan: Our hope and our patience is Christ; he is our redemption; he is our expectation.… Look on us, Lord, when you come in judgment; let your mercy look on us.… In the power of your mercy lies the substance of our soul and life. We must not fear physical death; rather, we should fear him who can save or destroy our soul. Our soul’s substance is that virtue that God has poured into hearts made in the image of himself. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “And now” [Psalms 39:7]. “And now,” saith this Idithun,-looking back on a certain “vain” show, and looking up to a certain Truth, standing midway where he has something beyond him, and something also behind him, having below him the place from which he took his spring, having above him that toward which he has stretched forth;-“And now,” when I have “over-leaped” some things, when I have trampled many things under foot, when I am no longer captivated by things temporal; even now, I am not perfect, “I have not yet apprehended.” “For it is by hope that we are saved; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Therefore he says: “And now what wait I for? Is it not for the Lord?” He is my expectation, who hath given me all those things, that I might despise them. He will give unto me Himself also, even He who is above all, and “by whom all things were made,” and by whom I was made amongst all; even He, the Lord, is my Expectation! You see Idithun, brethren, you see in what way he waiteth for Him! Let no man therefore call himself perfect here; he deceives and imposes upon himself; he is beguiling himself, he cannot have perfection here, and what avails it that he should lose humility?…

“And my substance is ever before Thee.” Already advancing, already tending towards Him, and to some extent already beginning to “be,” still (he says ) “my substance is ever before Thee.” Now that other substance is also before men. You have gold, silver, slaves, estates, trees, cattle, servants. These things are visible even to men. There is a certain “substance that is ever before Thee.” — Exposition on Psalms 39

Origen of Alexandria: We will have to say that if we give in to troubles, we do not believe in him insofar as he is endurance; and if we are weak, we have not believed in him insofar as he is strength. — COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF John 19:157

Psalms 39:8

Ambrose of Milan: It is not merely one lapse that he is confessing, for he prays to be forgiven all his iniquities. He knows that without God’s forgiveness no one can be saved. For we were born in sin. We have inherited a stain. Our human condition has a congenital tendency to sin. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “Deliver me from all my transgressions” [Psalms 39:8]. I have “over-leaped” a great deal of ground, a very great deal of ground already; but, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the Truth is not in us.” I have “over-leaped” a great deal: but still do I “beat my breast,” and say, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Thou therefore art “my expectation!” my “End.” For “Christ is the end of the Law unto righteousness, unto every man that believeth.” From all mine offences: not only from those, that I may not relapse into those which I have already “over-leaped;” but from all, without exception, of those on account of which I now beat my breast, and say, “Forgive us our debts.” “Deliver me from all mine offences:” me being thus minded, and holding fast what the Apostle said, “As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded.” For at the time that he said that he was not “already perfect,” he then immediately goes on and says, “As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded.”… Art thou then, O Apostle, not perfect, and are we perfect? But hath it escaped you, that he did just now call himself “perfect”? For he does not say, “As many of you as are perfect, be ye thus minded;” but “As many of us as be perfect, let us be thus minded;” after having said a little before, “Not that I have already attained; either am already perfect.” In no other way then can you be perfect in this life, than by knowing that you cannot be perfect in this life. This then will be your perfection, so to have “over-leaped” some things, as to have still some point to which you are hastening on: so as to have something remaining, to which you will have to leap on, when everything else has been passed by. It is such faith as this that is secure; for whoever thinks that he has already attained, is “exalting himself,” so as to be “abused” hereafter. … — Exposition on Psalms 39

Cassiodorus: Although this holy man was conducting himself in noble devotion, he still asks to be freed from all of his iniquities by the Lord’s mercy. — EXPLANATION OF THE Psalms 39:9

Psalms 39:9

Augustine of Hippo: “I became dumb; and I opened not my mouth” [Psalms 39:9]. But it was to guard against “the foolish man,” that “I became dumb, and opened not my mouth.” For to whom should I tell what is going on within me? “For I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me; for He will speak peace unto His people.” But “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “to the wicked.” [Isaiah 48:22] “I was dumb, and opened not my mouth; because it is Thou that made me.” Was this the reason that you opened not your mouth, “because God made you”? That is strange; for did not God make your mouth, that you should speak? “He that planted the ear, does He not hear? He that formed the eye, does He not see?” God has given you a mouth to speak with; and do you say, “I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because You made me”? Or does the clause, “Because You made me,” belong to the verse that follows? — Exposition on Psalms 39

Diodorus of Tarsus: For my part, I realized that this happens to me with your permission, and I waited longer in the knowledge that I would receive help from the same quarter from which comes also the allowance of my suffering. — COMMENTARY ON Psalms 39

Philoxenus of Mabbug: Whosoever feareth sleepeth not, and if he sleepeth, he seeth in his dream the cause of his fear; he eateth not, and he drinketh not, and if the force of natural craving compel him, fear is mingled with his meat and drink. Everything which attacketh the man who is filled with the fear of God abideth outside him, for fear keepeth fast hold upon the place of his understanding, and upon all the places of ingoing and outgoing of the city of his soul. Like the watchmen who stand by the gates of the city, even so doth fear keep fast hold upon the places of ingoing and outgoing of the soul, and it permitteth no act or thought to enter in or to go forth which it examineth not; for it neither permitteth any internal thought whatsoever to go forth, nor any external act that is not seemly to go in. And moreover this Prophet maketh known in other places the fear of God; “My flesh contracteth through fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy judgments.” And again he saith, “I am like a wine skin in ice, but I have not forgotten Thy commandments.” And again he saith, “Sorrow is in my heart all the day long. How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn Thy face from me? How long wilt Thou forget me, for ever? How long wilt Thou set trouble in my soul?” And again he saith, “Heal me, O Lord, for my bones tremble, and my soul is greatly moved. I am weary with my groaning; every night make I my bed to swim; and I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye hath become sick because of Thine anger”; now it is evident that all these things arose from [his] fear of God. And again he saith, “I roared by reason of the groaning of my heart”; and again he saith, “Lead me, O Lord, in Thy fear and righteousness”; and again he saith, “There is no soundness in my flesh before the fear of Thee, and there is no health in my bones in the presence of my sins. For my iniquities have gone over my head; and [they are] as a heavy burden heavy upon me. My wounds stink and are corrupt, and in the presence of my iniquities I tremble greatly. All the day long I walk in sadness. For my ankles are filled with trembling. I am much moved, and I am brought to great misery.” And again he saith, “My heart is turned back, and my strength hath forsaken me; and the light of my eyes is no longer with me.” And again he saith, “I kept silent, and I was sorrowful, and I was afflicted even from good; And my sickness was stirred. My heart became hot within me; and in my body the fire kindled.” And again he saith, “I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it. I have come to an end because of [Thy] rebuke of my sins.” — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 – Second Discourse on the Fear of God

Psalms 39:10

Ambrose of Milan: The strong hand strikes as though harshly, but it is swift to heal. If it is powerful to wound, it is also powerful when it comes to applying a remedy. As the Lord says, “I will strike, and I will heal.” … This hand of the Lord took from Job all that he had and gave it all back again. In fact, he greatly added to Job’s store of good things, even doubling what he had before. Do not be troubled because David says he has fainted. A person can faint and rise up stronger than before. “The Lord lifts up all that fall and sets up all that are cast down.” Whoever is corrected will rise up with virtue. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “Remove Your stroke away from me” [Psalms 39:10]. Because it is “Thou that hast made me,” let it not be Your pleasure to destroy me utterly; scourge, so that I may be made better, not so that I faint; beat me, so that I may be beaten out to a greater length and breadth, not so that I may be ground to powder. “By the heaviness of Your hand I fainted in corrections.” That is, I “fainted” while You were correcting me. And what is meant by “correcting” me? Except what follows. — Exposition on Psalms 39

Psalms 39:11

Augustine of Hippo: “Thou with rebukes hast chastened man for iniquity; Thou hast made my life to consume away like a spider” (ver. 11). There is much that is discerned by this Idithun; by every one who discerns as he does; who overleaps as he does. For he says, that he has fainted in God’s corrections; and would fain have the stroke removed away from him, “because it is He who made him.” Let Him renew me, who also made me; let Him who created me, create me anew. But yet, Brethren, do we suppose that there was no cause for his fainting, so that he wishes to be “renewed,” to be “created anew”? It is “for iniquity,” saith he, “that Thou hast chastened man.” All this, my having fainted, my being weak, my “crying out of the deep,” all of this is because of “iniquity;” and in this Thou hast not condemned, but hast “chastened” me. “Thou hast chastened man for sin.” Hear this more plainly from another Psalm: “It is good for me that Thou hast afflicted me, that I might learn Thy righteousness.” I have been “afflicted,” and at the same time “it is good for me;” it is at once a punishment, and an act of favour. What hath He in store for us after punishment is over, who inflicts punishment itself by way of favour? For He it is of whom it was said, “I was brought low, and He made me whole:” and, “It is good for me that Thou hast afflicted me, that I might learn Thy righteousness.” “Thou chastenest man for iniquity.” And that which is written, “Thou formest my grief in teaching me,” could only be said unto God by one who was “leaping beyond” his fellows; “Thou formest my grief in teaching me;” Thou makest, that is to say, a lesson for me out of my sorrow. It is Thou that formest that very grief itself; Thou dost not leave it unformed, but formest it; and that grief, that has been inflicted by Thee, when formed, will be a lesson unto me, that I may be set free by Thee. For the word finges is used in the sense of “forming,” as it were moulding, my grief; not in the sense of “feigning” it; in the same way that fingit is applied to the artist, in the same sense that figulus is derived from fingere. Thou therefore “hast chastened man for iniquity.” I see myself in afflictions; I see myself under punishment; and I see no unrighteousness in Thee. If I therefore am under punishment, and if there is no unrighteousness with Thee, it remains that Thou must have been “chastening man for iniquity.”

And by what means hast Thou “chastened” him? Tell us, O Idithun, the manner of thy chastening; tell us in what way thou hast been “chastened.” “And Thou hast made my life consume like a spider.” This is the chastening! What consumes away sooner than the spider? I speak of the creature itself; though what can be more liable to “consume away” than the spider’s webs? Observe too how liable to decay is the creature itself. Do but set your finger lightly upon it, and it is a ruin: there is nothing at all more easily destroyed. To such a state hast Thou brought my life, by chastening me “because of iniquity.” When chastening makes us weak, there is a kind of strength that would be a fault. …It was by a kind of strength that man offended, so as to require to be corrected by weakness: for it was by a certain “pride” that he offended; so as to require to be chastened by humility. All proud persons call themselves strong men. Therefore have many “come from the East and the West,” and have attained “to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven.” Wherefore was it that they so attained? Because they would not be strong. What is meant by “would not be strong”? They were afraid to presume of their own merits. They did not “go about to establish their own righteousness,” that they might “submit themselves to the righteousness of God.” …Behold! you are mortal; and you bear about you a body of flesh that is corrupting away: “And ye shall fall like one of the princes. Ye shall die like men,” and shall fall like the devil. What good does the remedial discipline of mortality do you? The devil is proud, as not having a mortal body, as being an angel. But as for you, who have received a mortal body, and to whom even this does no good, so as to humble you by so great weakness, you shall “fall like one of the princes.” This then is the first grace of God’s gift, to bring us to the confession of our infirmity, that whatever good we can do, whatever ability we have, we may be that in Him; that “He that glorieth, may glory in the Lord.” “When I am weak,” saith he, “then am I strong.” — Exposition on Psalms 39

Diodorus of Tarsus: I realize that all your scourging proves to be for a person’s correction and betterment; it is not as though you were indifferent to human beings in allowing them to suffer, instead preferring to improve their souls. — COMMENTARY ON Psalms 39

Theodore of Mopsuestia: So this is what should concern us, being rescued from sins and attaining reconciliation with you, which results in complete resolution of problems, and not taking pains over other things, which are futile and useless for the painstaker, never bringing one an outcome for the pains or providing one with lasting benefit from the pains. — COMMENTARY ON Psalms 39:12c

Psalms 39:12

Augustine of Hippo: “Hear my prayer, O Lord” (ver. 12). Whereof shall I rejoice? Whereof should I groan? I rejoice on account of what is past, I groan longing for these which are not yet come. “Hear my prayer, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not Thy peace at my tears.” For do I now no longer weep, because I have already “passed by,” have “left behind” so great things as these? “Do I not weep much the more?” For, “He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.” The more I long for what is not here, do I not so much the more groan for it until it comes? do I not so much the more weep until it comes?…

“For I am a sojourner with Thee.” But with whom am I a “sojourner”? When I was with the devil, I was a “sojourner;” but then I had a bad host and entertainer; now, however, I am with Thee; but I am a “sojourner” still. What is meant by a sojourner? I am a “sojourner” in the place from which I am to remove; not in the place where I am to dwell for ever. The place where I am to abide for ever, should be rather called my home. In the place from which I am to remove I am a “sojourner;” but yet it is with my God that I am a sojourner, with whom I am hereafter to abide, when I have reached my home. But what home is that to which you are to remove from this estate of a sojourner? Recognise that home, of which the Apostle speaks, “We have an habitation of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens.” If this house is eternal in the Heavens, when we have come to it, we shall not be sojourners any more. For how should you be a sojourner in an eternal home? But here, where the Master of the house is some day to say to you, “Remove,” while you yourself know not when He will say it, be thou in readiness. And by longing for your eternal home, you will be keeping yourself in readiness for it. And be not angry with Him, because He gives thee notice to remove, when He Himself pleases. For He made no covenant with thee, nor did He bind Himself by any engagement; nor didst thou enter upon the tenancy of this house on a certain stipulation for a definite term: thou art to quit, when it is its Master’s pleasure. For therefore is it that you now dwell there free of charge. “For I am a sojourner with Thee, and a stranger.” Therefore it is there is my country: it is there is my home. “I am a sojourner with Thee, and a stranger.” Here too is understood “with Thee.” For many are strangers with the devil: but they who have already believed and are faithful, are, it is true, “strangers” as yet, because they have not yet come to that country and to that home: but still they are strangers with God. For so long as we are in the body, we are strangers from the Lord, and we desire, whether we are strangers, or abiding here, “we may be accepted with Him.” I am a “sojourner with Thee; and a stranger, as all my fathers were.” If then I am as all my fathers were, shall I say that I will not remove, when they have removed? Am I to lodge here on other terms, than those on which they lodged here also?… — Exposition on Psalms 39

Jerome: What the psalmist means is: As long as I am in this body, I am unhappy. Who of us could say that? If we are octogenarians, we are afraid to die; if we are centenarians and sick besides, still we cling to life and beg for respite. Why do we do that? Because sin gnaws at our conscience. We know that if we leave our body, we are going not to Christ but to hell. On the contrary, what does the apostle say? “I desire to depart and to be with Christ.” Give me freedom from anxiety, for after death I am going to be with Christ; even now I long to die. So our psalmist, because he is one who loves the Lord, cries: Unhappy man that I am, because my sojourn is prolonged! — HOMILY ON Psalms 119[120]

Psalms 39:13

Ambrose of Milan: Forgive me, so that I need no longer be a pilgrim and a wayfarer. Forgive me so that I may be called home from exile. If you forgive me, before I go from this place, I shall no longer be an exile and a pilgrim. Once you will have forgiven me, I will no longer be in foreign parts. I shall be a fellow citizen of your saints; I shall be with my ancestors, who were pilgrims before me and are now truly citizens. I shall be a member of God’s household. I shall not dread punishment but shall merit grace through our Lord Jesus; with whom, Lord God, be praise to you, and honor and glory forever; now and always and for ages of ages. Amen. — Commentaries on the Twelve Davidic Psalms

Augustine of Hippo: “Grant me some remission, that I may be refreshed before I go hence” (ver. 13). Consider well, Idithun, consider what knots those are which thou wouldest have “loosed” unto thee, that thou mightest be “refreshed before thou goest hence.” For thou hast certain fever-heats from which thou wouldest fain be refreshed, and thou sayest, “that I may be refreshed,” and “grant me a remission.” What should He remit, or loosen unto thee, save that difficulty under which, and in consequence of which, thou sayest, “Forgive us our debts. Grant me a remission before I go hence, and be no more.” Set me free from my sins, “before I go hence,” that I may not go hence with my sins. Remit them unto me, that I may be set at rest in my conscience, that it may be disburthened of its feverish anxiety, the anxiety with which “I am sorry for my sin. Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed” (before everything else), “before I go hence, and be no more.” For if thou grantest me not a “remission, that I may be refreshed,” I shall “go and be no more.” “Before I go” thither, where if I go, I shall thenceforth “be no more. Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed.” A question has suggested itself, how he will be no more. …What is meant then by “shall be no more,” unless Idithun is alluding to what is true “being,” and what is not true “being.” For he was beholding with the mind, with which he could do so, with the “mind’s eye,” by which he was able to behold it, that end, which he had desired to have shown unto him, saying, “Lord, make me to know mine end.” He was beholding “the number of his days, which truly is;” and he observed that all that is below, in comparison of that true being, has no true being. For those things are permanent; these are subject to change; mortal, and frail, and the eternal suffering, though full of corruption, is for this very reason not to be ended, that it may ever be being ended without end. He alluded therefore to that realm of bliss, to the happy country, to the happy home, where the Saints are partakers of eternal Life, and of Truth unchangeable; and he feared to “go” where that is not, where there is no true being; longing to be there, where “Being” in the highest sense is! It is on account of this contrast then, while standing midway between them, he says, “Grant me a remission, that I may be refreshed before I go hence and be no more.” For if Thou “grantest me not a remission” of my sins, I shall go from Thee unto all eternity! And from whom shall I go to all eternity? From Him who said, I Am He that Am: from Him who said, “Say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.” He then who goes from Him, in the contrary direction, goes to non-existence. … — Exposition on Psalms 39

Jerome: Grant me a little time that I may repent for my sins, for in hell no one has the power to confess his sins. — HOMILY ON Psalms 103[104]