“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Yahweh, show me my end, what is the measure of my days. Let me know how frail I am.
- KJV LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.
- NKJV “Lord, make me to know my end, And what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am.
- NASB “Lord, let me know my end, And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am.
- NLT “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.
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 teach him how brief and frail his life is. He seeks wisdom about his mortality.
Overview
Rather than cursing his trouble, David prays to grasp the shortness of his days. Understanding human frailty puts suffering and ambition in perspective. This is the prayer of Psalm 90:12, to number our days and gain a heart of wisdom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ps 90:12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
- Ps 103:14For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.
- Job 14:13If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me!
- Ps 119:84How many days must Your servant wait? When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 39:4 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.