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Day 316

Psalm 39:4a "LORD, make me to know my end..."

Day 316 – Psalm 39

“LORD, make me to know my end…” Psalm 39:4a

WORDS SPOKEN IN PRAYER

David had broken his silence. Interestingly, his first words were uttered to the Lord in prayer.

“LORD, make me to know my end,
And what is the measure of my days,
That I may know how frail I am.”
Psalm 39:4

1. “LORD”

a) Once again David practised consciousness of God.
b) Once again he addressed Him as LORD.
c) In his earlier personal determination perhaps he had not been fully conscious of the LORD.

2. “Make me to know my end”

a) This was a profound prayer request.
b) This phrase does not mean that David wanted to know when he would die.
c) It was a prayer to be reminded of his mortality.

3. “And what is the measure of my days”

a) This phrase expressed David’s request to learn afresh human mortality.
b) Man’s life span was but “a measure of days”.

4. “That I may know how frail I am”

a) Man was a mere mortal with a short life span.
b) He was also nothing more than a frail creature.

WHAT WAS BEHIND THIS PRAYER?

It is likely that David had chosen silence because he had feared for his life if he spoke up against the wicked! But would silence really grant him a greater lease of life? Would a longer life be worth anything if he had allowed wickedness to prevail because he had chosen to remain silent? David knew he had erred in his judgment.