Psalm 39: Asking God to Look Away

Psalm 39:13 "Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!”

Perhaps you saw the title for this devotional today and thought it was odd. Perhaps you thought I made a typo or forgot the word "not" between "to" and "look away." Rest assured, I did not make a typo: the title is exactly what it's supposed to be. However, I will sympathize with you: I had about the same thoughts I just described about you when I read Psalm 39 this morning. David quite literally asks God to "look away" from him in order that David "may smile again." Surely David must have made a typo, but I assure you, he did not. He meant exactly what he said. But what does it mean?

Before we go anywhere with Psalm 39 today, we must first and foremost remember that the psalms are written in poetic language. We read poems differently that we read non-fiction stories, and that same principle should be carried over to the Bible as well. Everything that the psalmists say is to be taken poetically, not meaning that it isn't true, but meaning that it isn't always literal. Much of what he is saying is imagery and analogy. If we remember this while reading the psalms, it will make their interpretation much easier.

Nonetheless, we still have to ask ourselves the question of why David asked the Lord to look away from him. Well, the first question in any Bible study ought to be "what is the context?" In the context of Psalm 39, we see David first and foremost resolving that he will "not sin with his tongue." In the first two verses of the psalm, this refers to his absolute silence before God (see verse 2a) [which is extremely ironic because only 2 of the 13 verses in this psalm are not a direct quotation of David himself]. However, David realizes that bottling up his emotion inside of him only made his disress grow worse (see verses 2b-3) [this certainly has great implications to how we ought to deal with our emotions, but we won't go there since it isn't the main focus of the psalm]. In response to his growing distress and "hot heart," David spoke with his tongue, and made his petitions known to his God [which still kept him inside of his original resolution, because this was surely not sin].

In David's words to God (which constitute the remaining 9 verses of the psalm), he makes three groups of petitions. Firstly, he asks God to show him the brevity of his life: "O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!" David wanted the Lord to show him how little and frail he was, that he might be humbled amidst his distress and therefore not feel the entirety of its weight. This parallels very clearly Job 38-42, when the Lord humbled Job amidst his distress in order that he might trust in God instead of himself. Secondly, David asks that God deliver him from his transgressions, and "remove [his] stroke from [him]" (8, 10). David knew that the Lord's discipline on his children (see Hebrews 12) was extremely painful (11), so he asked that God first and foremost deliver him from his sin that he might not have to endure his discipline, but secondly remove his punishment from him for the sin that [it appears] he already committed. Thirdly, David asks that the Lord hear his prayer (12) and ultimately that God might "look away from [him] that [he] might smile again." (13) This is the context of this statement today, so let's see what it means.

David's petition to ask the Lord to look away from him, I believe, is simply a poetic way of asking the Lord to have mercy on him. In the context of this psalm, I believe that it is the clearest interpretation of these words. In verse 7, David blatantly states that his hope in in God and in God alone, so this verse in its context cannot be David rebuking God and asking him to leave him fully. Furthermore, notice David's language here: he does not ask for the Lord to depart from him, but rather for the Lord to look away from him. It's almost as if the Lord in this psalm is the fatherly figure who just caught his son doing something disobedient, and the dad gave his son "the look" (y'all know what I'm talking about). David is asking God to not "look" at him like that, but rather extend mercy to him.

So, where's the application here? I think this psalm gives us a great model of how to respond to God amidst our distress even after we have sinned. It shows us the importance of resolving to be obedient to God amidst our distress (1), making our petitions known to God (4-13, Phil. 4:6), asking God to humble us (4-6), hoping in God alone even though he is the one punishing us (7-11), and pleaing to God for mercy because he is the only one who can grant it (7-13). Any of these great postures amidst our distress and sin can be a great application for you today. Pick one, and live it out.