Psalms 39:3

My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The psalmist speaks to the Lord immediately after a period of deliberate silence during a time of stirred sorrow.

The words — חַם־ (cham-) = it became hot, and תִבְעַר־ אֵשׁ (tiv'ar 'esh) = it burned a fire, tracking the physical progression of inner agitation.

The thread — The pattern of internal heat driving speech appears in Jeremiah 20:9, where a divine message becomes a burning fire in the heart, and Luke 24:32, where hearts burn within during scriptural encounter.

Why it lands — The text records that enforced silence eventually fractures under pressure, compelling the speaker to vocalize his burden directly to God.

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

חַם־cham-it became hot לִבִּ֨י׀li.B/iheart/ my בְּקִרְבִּ֗יbe./kir.B/iin/ inner being/ my בַּהֲגִיגִ֥יba./ha.gi.G/iin/ sighing/ my תִבְעַר־tiv.'ar-it burned אֵ֑שׁ'Eshfire דִּ֝בַּ֗רְתִּיdi.Bar.tiI spoke בִּלְשֽׁוֹנִי׃bi/l.Sho.n/iwith/ tongue/ my

King James Version

My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

Cross-references

Jeremiah 20:9 If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
Luke 24:32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Ezekiel 3:14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.