RR Psalm 39:4,5(3,4) Part 2
(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
Psalm 39:4 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue: 5 “Let me know, Adonai, my end and what the number of my days is. Let me know how short-lived I am.”
I had been a follower of Yeshua for only a year or two (in the early 1980s) when I went to the Lord in prayer. I got very alone and asked God (much like King David did, here in verse 5) to show me the end. “How will my life turn out? What will be the difference makers by the time I finish my race?” To my relief, God spoke to me by giving me a verse. One that I have held close to my heart all these years since.
This is the answer I received. God directed me to only this one verse of Scripture. Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will give counsel—My eye is on you. It wasn’t the answer I was seeking, but it was the answer God was giving. He was saying, “No, I’m not going to show you the end.” (Probably because I couldn’t have handled it.) God then continued speaking, “However; if you will stay teachable, I will direct your steps, one at a time. My “eye” will always be upon you.” This could be God’s word for you today if you will receive it.
In our subject verse, if King David did receive a specific answer from God, he didn’t write it down for us. He actually goes on to write about how brief and frail our lives actually are. Jacob 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Rabbi Trail: Jacob, the half-brother of Yeshua, wrote the book now called James. The name was changed by the writers of the King James Version to honor their benefactor, King James I (who was King James IV of Scotland until he succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England to become King James I of England) when he ordered the new translation of the Bible to replace the Geneva Bible which he disliked because of its margin notes. The Tree of Life Version uses the original English name, “Jacob” for the original Hebrew name Ya’akov. End RT.
Verse 5 ends with this… Psalm 39:5b Let me know how short-lived I am. The word translated as “short-lived” only appears 3 times in Scripture. Notably in Isaiah 53 it is translated as “rejected.” Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected (short-lived) by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, One from whom people hide their faces. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Then, we skip down to verse 8… Isaiah 53:8b For He was cut off from the land of the living. This “cut off” is not that “short lived,” but a dividing between this mortal life and eternal life. This life may be brief, but that life is eternal.
Psalm 89:48a Remember how short my life span is! But we must remember our purpose is here is to prepare for there. Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 21 He will transform this humble body of ours into the likeness of His glorious body, through the power that enables Him even to put all things in subjection to Himself. Enjoy “People Get Ready” by Misty Edwards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9W-m8RHdOo Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri14-Nov-202523rd of Cheshvan, 5786
Ge 25:1-11Jdg 9Ps 35Mt 25(Ro 6)
Psalm 39:4 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue: 5 “Let me know, Adonai, my end and what the number of my days is. Let me know how short-lived I am.”
I had been a follower of Yeshua for only a year or two (in the early 1980s) when I went to the Lord in prayer. I got very alone and asked God (much like King David did, here in verse 5) to show me the end. “How will my life turn out? What will be the difference makers by the time I finish my race?” To my relief, God spoke to me by giving me a verse. One that I have held close to my heart all these years since.
This is the answer I received. God directed me to only this one verse of Scripture. Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will give counsel—My eye is on you. It wasn’t the answer I was seeking, but it was the answer God was giving. He was saying, “No, I’m not going to show you the end.” (Probably because I couldn’t have handled it.) God then continued speaking, “However; if you will stay teachable, I will direct your steps, one at a time. My “eye” will always be upon you.” This could be God’s word for you today if you will receive it.
In our subject verse, if King David did receive a specific answer from God, he didn’t write it down for us. He actually goes on to write about how brief and frail our lives actually are. Jacob 4:14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Rabbi Trail: Jacob, the half-brother of Yeshua, wrote the book now called James. The name was changed by the writers of the King James Version to honor their benefactor, King James I (who was King James IV of Scotland until he succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England to become King James I of England) when he ordered the new translation of the Bible to replace the Geneva Bible which he disliked because of its margin notes. The Tree of Life Version uses the original English name, “Jacob” for the original Hebrew name Ya’akov. End RT.
Verse 5 ends with this… Psalm 39:5b Let me know how short-lived I am. The word translated as “short-lived” only appears 3 times in Scripture. Notably in Isaiah 53 it is translated as “rejected.” Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected (short-lived) by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, One from whom people hide their faces. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Then, we skip down to verse 8… Isaiah 53:8b For He was cut off from the land of the living. This “cut off” is not that “short lived,” but a dividing between this mortal life and eternal life. This life may be brief, but that life is eternal.
Psalm 89:48a Remember how short my life span is! But we must remember our purpose is here is to prepare for there. Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 21 He will transform this humble body of ours into the likeness of His glorious body, through the power that enables Him even to put all things in subjection to Himself. Enjoy “People Get Ready” by Misty Edwards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9W-m8RHdOo Shalom shalom.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri14-Nov-202523rd of Cheshvan, 5786
Ge 25:1-11Jdg 9Ps 35Mt 25(Ro 6)
Posted in Rabbis Reflections
Recent
Archive
2025
May
RR Psalm 28:5 Part 5RR Psalm 28:6 Part 6RR Psalm 28:7a Part 7RR Psalm 28:7b Part 8RR Psalm 28:7c Part 9RR Psalm 28:7d Part 10RR Psalm 28:8 Part 11Rabbi’s Reflections - Saturday, May 10, 2025 by David HarwoodRR Psalm 28:9 Part 12RR Psalm 28:9 Part 13RR Psalm 28:9 Part 14RR Psalm 28:9 Part 15RR Psalm 29:1 Part 1RR Psalm 29:2 Part 2Favor From a Fooled Philistine By David HarwoodRR Psalm 29:3 Part 3RR Psalm 29:4 Part 4RR Psalm 29:5 Part 5RR Psalm 29:6 Part 6RR Psalm 29:7 Part 7RR Psalm 29:7 Part 7Favor/Grace in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings By David HarwoodRR Psalm 29:8 Part 8RR Psalm 29:10 Part 10RR Psalm 29:9 Part 9RR Psalm 29:11 Paert 11RR Psalm 30:1,2 Part 1RR Psalms 30:3 Part 2RR Psalm 30:4 Part 3Favor (Chen/Charis) in the Psalms By David HarwoodRR Psalm 30:5 Part 4
June
RR Psalm 30:6 Part 5RR Psalm 30:7 Part 6RR Psalm 30:8 Part 7RR - Psalm 30:9-11 Part 8RR Psalm 30:12,13 Part 9RR Favor (Chen/Charis) in Proverbs By David HarwoodRR Psalm 31:1,2 Part 1RR Psalm 31:3 Part 2RR Psalm 31:4 Part 3RR Psalm 31:5 Part 4RR Psalm 31:6 Part 5RR Psalm 31:7 Part 6RR Kohelet By David HarwoodRR “Taking Our Thoughts Captive – Part 2” By Jerry MillerRR Psalm 31:8 Part 7RR Psalm 31:8 Part 8RR Psalm 31:9 Part 9RR - Psalm 31:10 Part 10RR Psalm 31:11 Part 11Zechariah and Favor By David HarwoodRR - Psalm 31:12-14 Part 12RR Shalom SpecialRR Psalm 31:15 Part 13RR Psalm 31:16,17 Part 14RR Psalm 31:18 Part 15RR Psalm 31:19,20 Part 16RR Adonai-Tzva’ot and End-Time Favor By David HarwoodRR Psalm 31:21 Part 17RR Psalm 31:22 Part 18RR Psalm 31:23 Part 19
July
RR Psalm 31:24 Part 20RR Psalm 31:25 Part 21RR Psalm 32:1 Part 1Rabbi’s Reflections - Favor and Luke By David HarwoodRR Taking Thoughts Captive Part 3 by Jerry MillerRR Psalm 32:2 Part 2RR Psalm 32:3,4 Part 3RR Psalm 32:5 Part 4RR Psalm 32:5 Part 5RR Psalm 32:6 Part 6Some Nuances of Charis By David HarwoodRR Psalm 32:7 Part 7RR Psalm 32:8 Part 8RR Psalm 32:8 Part 9RR Psalm 32:9 Part 10RR Psalm 32:10 Part 11RR Psalm 32:11 Part 12RR Psalm 33:1 Part 1RR Psalm 33:2,3 Part 2RR Psalm 33:4,5 Part 3RR Psalm 33:6,7 Part 4RR Psalm 33:8,9,10 Part 5Favor In Acts 1 by David HarwoodRR Psalm 33:11,12 Part 6RR Psalm 33:13,14 Part 7RR Psalm 33:15,16 Part 8RR Psalm 33:17,18,19 Part 9RR Psalm 33:20,21 Part 10RR Psalm 33:22 Part 11RR Favor in Acts 2: Stephen by David HarwoodRR “Endurance for the Race” by Jerry Miller