I Will Watch My Ways

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.”

2I was speechless and still;

I remained silent, even from speaking good,

and my sorrow was stirred.

3My heart grew hot within me;

as I mused, the fire burned.

Then I spoke with my tongue:

4“Show me, O LORD, my end

and the measure of my days.

Let me know how fleeting my life is.

5You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths,

and my lifetime as nothing before You.

Truly each man at his best

exists as but a breath.

Selah

6Surely every man goes about like a phantom;

surely he bustles in vain;

he heaps up riches

not knowing who will haul them away.

7And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

My hope is in You.

8Deliver me from all my transgressions;

do not make me the reproach of fools.

9I have become mute;

I do not open my mouth

because of what You have done.

10Remove Your scourge from me;

I am perishing by the force of Your hand.

11You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity,

consuming like a moth what he holds dear;

surely each man is but a vapor.

Selah

12Hear my prayer, O LORD,

and give ear to my cry for help;

do not be deaf to my weeping.

For I am a foreigner dwelling with You,

a stranger like all my fathers.

13Turn Your gaze away from me,

that I may again be cheered

before I depart and am no more.”