I Will Watch My Ways
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 I was speechless and still;
I remained silent, even from speaking good,
and my sorrow was stirred.
3 My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Show me, O LORD, my end
and the measure of my days.
Let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 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 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 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the reproach of fools.
9 I have become mute;
I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.
10 Remove Your scourge from me;
I am perishing by the force of Your hand.
11 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 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 Turn Your gaze away from me,
that I may again be cheered
before I depart and am no more.”