Psa 39:2-3 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 2. I held any peace , even from good ] "I ceased from the words of the law," says the Chaldee . I spoke nothing, either good or bad . I did not even defend myself. My sorrow was stirred. ] My afflictions increased, and I had an exacerbation of pain. It is a hard thing to be denied the benefit of complaint in sufferings, as it has a tendency to relieve the mind, and indeed, in some sort, to call off the attention from the place of actual suffering: and yet undue and extravagant complaining enervates the mind, so that it becomes a double prey to its sufferings. On both sides there are extremes : David seems to have steered clear of them on the right hand and on the left.

‏ Psalms 39:2-3

Verse 2. I held any peace, even from good] "I ceased from the words of the law," says the Chaldee. I spoke nothing, either good or bad. I did not even defend myself.

My sorrow was stirred.] My afflictions increased, and I had an exacerbation of pain. It is a hard thing to be denied the benefit of complaint in sufferings, as it has a tendency to relieve the mind, and indeed, in some sort, to call off the attention from the place of actual suffering: and yet undue and extravagant complaining enervates the mind, so that it becomes a double prey to its sufferings. On both sides there are extremes: David seems to have steered clear of them on the right hand and on the left.

Verse 3. My heart was hot within me] A natural feeling of repressed grief.

While I was musing] What was at first a simple sensation of heat produced a flame; the fire broke out that had long been smothered. It is a metaphor taken from vegetables, which, being heaped together, begin to heat and ferment, if not scattered and exposed to the air; and will soon produce a flame, and consume themselves and every thing within their reach.