לַמְנַצֵּחַ לִידוּתוּן מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד

For the chief musician, for Yedutun. Yedutun was one of the Temple’s chief musicians, and David furnished this song to him either to set it to music or to sing it. Some commentators are of the opinion that yedutun is the name of an existing melody to which this psalm was meant to be sung, or, alternatively, the name of a musical instrument. A psalm by David.

אָמַרְתִּי אֶשְׁמְרָה דְרָכַי מֵחֲטוֹא בִלְשׁוֹנִי אֶשְׁמְרָה לְפִי מַחְסוֹם בְּעֹד רָשָׁע לְנֶגְדִּי

I have said: I will guard my ways lest I sin with my tongue by saying improper things. I will muzzle my mouth while the wicked are in my presence.

נֶאֱלַמְתִּי דוּמִיָּה הֶחֱשֵׁיתִי מִטּוֹב וּכְאֵבִי נֶעְכָּר

I was mute and silent; I refrained even from speaking good, lest I end up saying something inappropriate, but my pain worsened.

חַם לִבִּי בְּקִרְבִּי בַּהֲגִיגִי תִבְעַר אֵשׁ דִּבַּרְתִּי בִּלְשׁוֹנִי

My heart was hot within me while I was musing; the fire burned, and my tongue gave utterance, not to complaints against God over my predicament but to meditations about matters of deeper significance:

הוֹדִיעֵנִי ה' קִצִּי מִדַּת יָמַי מַה הִיא אֵדְעָה מֶה חָדֵל אָנִי

Lord, let me know my end and what will be the measure of my days. The psalmist’s request is primarily to be granted true awareness and appreciation of the transience of life, that we are here on earth only temporarily. He also expresses his desire to know when he will die, so that he can prepare for his death in a fitting manner. Let me know when I will cease to be, when all my suffering will come to an end; it is sometimes comforting to know this. In addition, the knowledge of one’s mortality generates a different perspective on assessing one’s life.

הִנֵּה טְפָחוֹת נָתַתָּה יָמַי וְחֶלְדִּי כְאַיִן נֶגְדֶּךָ אַךְ כָּל הֶבֶל כָּל אָדָם נִצָּב סֶלָה

Behold, You have given me days as handbreadths. My life is so short, as though it could be quantified in handbreadths, a small unit of measurement. My existence, my world and everything in it, is as nothing in Your sight. Indeed, everyone is like nothingness, every standing man, Selah. Even when a person is alive and standing, he has no significance before You.

אַךְ בְּצֶלֶם יִתְהַלֶּךְ אִישׁ אַךְ הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן יִצְבֹּר ולֹא יֵדַע מִי אֹסְפָם

Surely man walks about as a shadow, living in a world of illusion and false images. Indeed, he is in turmoil for naught, amassing riches and not knowing who will gather them and benefit from them after his death. Life is short and of little meaning; all of man’s endeavors lack real consequence.

וְעַתָּה מַה קִּוִּיתִי אֲדֹנָי תּוֹחַלְתִּי לְךָ הִיא

Although the psalmist acknowledges that man is essentially insignificant, he still turns to God in prayer: And now, Lord, on what do I rely? My hope resides only in You. He does not expect help from anyone else.

מִכָּל פְּשָׁעַי הַצִּילֵנִי חֶרְפַּת נָבָל אַל תְּשִׂימֵנִי

I confess that I have sinned, but I beseech You to deliver me from all my transgressions; do not disgrace me among the scoundrels. Do not allow my enemies to overtake and shame me. Punishing me, besides being painful for me, would be a reward for them, and they are unworthy.

נֶאֱלַמְתִּי לֹא אֶפְתַּח פִּי כִּי אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ

I have become mute; I do not open my mouth to argue or complain to You, for, regarding my suffering, I am aware that it is Your doing.

הָסֵר מֵעָלַי נִגְעֶךָ מִתִּגְרַת יָדְךָ אֲנִי כָלִיתִי

Nevertheless, I entreat God: Remove Your plague from me; I am perishing from the blows of Your hand.

בְּתוֹכָחוֹת עַל עָוֹן יִסַּרְתָּ אִישׁ וַתֶּמֶס כָּעָשׁ חֲמוּדוֹ אַךְ הֶבֶל כָּל אָדָם סֶלָה

You chastise a man with punishments for his sin, consuming, like a moth, what is precious to him. His possessions and his loved ones perish before him. Surely man is mere nothingness, Selah.

שִׁמְעָה תְפִלָּתִי ה' וְשַׁוְעָתִי הַאֲזִינָה; אֶל דִּמְעָתִי אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ כִּי גֵר אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ תּוֹשָׁב כְּכָל אֲבוֹתָי

Hear my prayer, Lord, and heed my cry; do not be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with You, a sojourner, as were all my fathers. Precisely because I am such a fragile and transient being, perhaps I could be granted a respite from suffering. The reference to “all my fathers” indicates that the psalmist’s plea does not pertain only to his own individual circumstances but is on behalf of all humanity. When compared with God’s infinite existence, human life in this world is but an ephemeral interlude.

הָשַׁע מִמֶּנִּי וְאַבְלִיגָה בְּטֶרֶם אֵלֵךְ וְאֵינֶנִּי

Therefore I pray: Let me be, so I may have relief, before I depart and am no more. If You do not give respite to a creature as short-lived and lowly as I am, my life will consist only of suffering and I will not have experienced what the world had in store for me.