Bible Strands
Psalms 39:1
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David, in a psalm directed to God, declares a deliberate self-imposed silence in the presence of the wicked. The superscription assigns it to Jeduthun for the choirmaster, marking it as a liturgical piece.
The words — מַחְסֹם (machsom) is a bit or muzzle, a physical restraint device applied to an animal's mouth; David borrows it for his own lips. The verb אֶשְׁמְרָה ('eshmerah, "I will guard") is repeated, doubling the act of self-policing.
The thread — Proverbs 21:23 ties guarding the mouth to preserving the soul; Psalms 141:3 asks God to set a guard over the speaker's lips; James 1:26 calls unbridled speech a deception of the heart.
Why it lands — The verse is not a tip but a confession of a struggle in motion: the very next line (39:2) shows the enforced silence itself becomes a wound. It asks the reader to treat speech in hostile company as an active, costly discipline rather than a neutral default.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 21:23 He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Psalms 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.
- James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- Psalms 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word.
- Psalms 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.
- Micah 7:5 Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.
- James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- Proverbs 18:21 Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
- Hebrews 2:1 We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- 1 Kings 2:4 and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’