Book One (Psalms 1-41) "Concerning Man"
A Psalm of David.
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.
To the chief Musician.
subtitle To the chief Musician. See The Companion Bible, Appendix 64.