I Will Watch My Ways 1 UDB I said to myself, "I will be careful not to sin by the things that I say. I will not say anything to complain to you while wicked people are near to me and can hear me." BSB BSB: For the choirmaster. For Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”
2 UDB So I was completely silent, and I did not even talk about things that were good; but it was useless because I began to suffer even more. BSB BSB: I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.
3 UDB I became very anxious in my inner being. As I thought about my troubles, I became more worried. Then finally I said this: BSB BSB: My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 UDB "Yahweh, show me how long I will live. Tell me when I will die. Tell me how many years I will live! BSB BSB: “Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 UDB It seems that you have caused me to live only a short time; my lifetime seems nothing to you. The time that all we humans live is as short as a puff of air. BSB BSB: You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
6 UDB Then we disappear like a shadow does. It seems that all that we do is for nothing. We sometimes get a lot of money, but we do not even know who will get it after we die. BSB BSB: Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
7 UDB So now, Yahweh, I can expect to receive nothing from anyone else. You are the only one from whom I confidently expect to receive blessings. BSB BSB: And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
8 UDB Deliver me from the sins that I have committed. Do not allow foolish people to make fun of me. BSB BSB: Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of fools.
9 UDB I did not say anything when you punished me, because I knew that you were the one who caused me to suffer. BSB BSB: I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.
10 UDB But now, please stop punishing me! If you do not do that, I am about to die because of how you make me suffer. BSB BSB: Remove Your scourge from me; I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
11 UDB When you rebuke someone and punish him for the sin that he has committed, you destroy the things he loves like moths eat away at clothing. Our lives disappear like a puff of air. BSB BSB: You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
12 UDB Yahweh, listen to me while I pray; pay attention to me while I cry out to you. Help me while I am crying. I am here on the earth for only a short time, like all my ancestors. BSB BSB: Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
13 UDB Now please allow me to be alone and do not punish me anymore so that I may smile and be happy for a while before I die." BSB BSB: Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.