What Is the Measure of My Days?

To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

¹I said, “I will guard my ways,

that I may not sin with my tongue;

I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,

so long as the wicked are in my presence.”

²I was mute and silent;

I held my peace to no avail,

and my distress grew worse.

³My heart became hot within me.

As I mused, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴“O Lord, make me know my end

and what is the measure of my days;

let me know how fleeting I am!

⁵Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,

and my lifetime is as nothing before you.

Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

⁶Surely a man goes about as a shadow!

Surely for nothing1 they are in turmoil;

man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

⁷“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in you.

⁸Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

⁹I am mute; I do not open my mouth,

for it is you who have done it.

¹⁰Remove your stroke from me;

I am spent by the hostility of your hand.

¹¹When you discipline a man

with rebukes for sin,

you consume like a moth what is dear to him;

surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah

¹²“Hear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not your peace at my tears!

For I am a sojourner with you,

a guest, like all my fathers.

¹³Look away from me, that I may smile again,

before I depart and am no more!”