O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
Parallel translations
- WEB Oh spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go away, and exist no more.”
- BSB Turn Your gaze away from me, that I may again be cheered before I depart and am no more.”
- NKJV Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, Before I go away and am no more.”
- NASB “Turn Your eyes away from me, that I may become cheerful again Before I depart and am no more.”
- NLT Leave me alone so I can smile again before I am gone and exist no more.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David asks God to look away in mercy so he may regain strength before he dies. He pleads for a measure of relief in his fleeting life.
Overview
The psalm ends soberly, with David asking respite before his short life ends. There is honest tension here, with hope expressed earlier yet a plaintive close. It models bringing raw, unresolved grief to God, who ultimately answers our mortality in the resurrection.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Job 14:5–6Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
- Job 10:20–21Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
- Job 14:10–12But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
- Job 7:19How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
- Gen 42:36And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
- Gen 5:24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 39:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.