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Day 317

Psalm 39:5a "Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths..."

Day 317 – Psalm 39

“Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths…” Psalm 39:5a

A FRESH APPRECIATION OF GOD AS CREATOR

David had written another psalm musing on the subject of God’s creation of man (Psalm 8). In that psalm he stood in wonder at God’s creation of man! The thoughts of this prayer in Psalm 39 may be appended to his reflection on man.

“Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my age is as nothing before You;
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapour.”
Psalm 39:5

1. “Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths”

a) There was a time when man lived much longer (Genesis 5:5,8,11 etc).
b) It was God who determined to limit man’s life because of the problem of wickedness (Genesis 6:3).
c) David realized that his own days on earth were mere “handbreadths” (This was a simple and common way of measuring short lengths; one handbreadth was the distance between the thumb and the last finger).

2. “My age is as nothing before You”

a) David recognized that innate within man was a strong desire to live as long as possible.
b) Many would go to great lengths to preserve their life.
c) David had thought that if he were not to engage in battling the wicked he might be able to have a longer life span (perhaps the wicked would spare his life if he did not resist them). But what was man’s age before an eternal God? Nothing!

3. “Certainly every man at his best state is but vapour”

a) It is also innate within man to desire to be in “his best state” throughout life.
b) This was something that David also desired.
c) He must have reasoned that one possible way of preserving his good life was to keep silent in the presence of wicked men.
d) But he now knew that he had reasoned wrongly. What was the best state of man? It was no more than mere vapour! And how long would vapour last?