Psalm 39: I Will Take Heed To My Ways Poem by King David of Israel

1 I said, I will take heed to my ways,
that I sin not with my tongue:
I will keep my mouth with a bridle,
while the wicked is before me.

2 I was dumb with silence,
I held my peace, even from good;
and my sorrow was stirred.

3 My heart was hot within me,
while I was musing the fire burned:
then spake I with my tongue,

4 LORD, make me to know mine end,
and the measure of my days, what it is:
that I may know how frail I am.

5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth;
and mine age is as nothing before thee:
verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew:
surely they are disquieted in vain:
he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

7 And now, Lord, what wait I for?
my hope is in thee.

8 Deliver me from all my transgressions:
make me not the reproach of the foolish.

9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth;
because thou didst it.

10 Remove thy stroke away from me:
I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,
thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:
surely every man is vanity. Selah.

12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry;
hold not thy peace at my tears:
for I am a stranger with thee,
and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

13 O spare me, that I may recover strength,
before I go hence, and be no more.

(KJV)