Psalm 39:13-14

[DMcB]

[center]
[size=5][b]13[/b][/size][/center]
[size=5][b]Listen to my prayer, LORD, hear my cry;[/b][/size]


[indent=1][size=5][b][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]do not be deaf to my weeping![/font][/b][/size][/indent]
[indent=1][size=5][b][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]For I am with you like a foreigner,[/font][/font][/b][/size][/indent]
[indent=1][size=5][b][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]a refugee, like my ancestors.[/font][/font][/font][/b][/size][/indent]

[center][size=5][b]14[/b][/size][/center]
[size=5][b][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Turn your gaze from me, that I may smile[/font][/font][/font][/b][/size]


[indent=1][size=5][b][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]before I depart to be no more.[/font][/font][/font][/b][/size][/indent]


[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4]In 13, are the words foreigner and refugee used to imply being away from sin? (Is this psalm stating that, when I am with the Lord, I am away from my broken nature?)[/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4]In 14, why is the Lord asked to turn His gaze so that smile may take place?[/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=4]Thanks in advance for your time.[/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font][/size][/font]

Edited January 2, 2012 by DMcB

[Theoketos]

It is poetic language...

...the author of the Psalm seems to be asking for grace from the Lord before he parishes.

[phatcatholic]

In the Revised Standard Version, those are verses 12 and 13, not 13 and 14. Here is the Navarre Commentary on these verses:

[b]39:12-13.[/b] In line with what he has said already, the psalmist ends his prayer by beseeching God to listen to him and not to be too hard on him ("Look away from me": vs. 13). Expressions like "thy passing guest" and "sojourner" (vs. 12) indicate that the psalmist sees his life as being under God's protection, the way the Law protected foreigners resident in Israel, and wayfarers (cf. Ex 12:48-49; Deut 10:18-19; etc.). "Beloved, I beseech you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul. Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in case they speak against you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation" (1 Pet 2:11-12). These terms also remind the Christian of the urgency of leading a life of union with Christ: "You do not have a permanent home here. Wherever you may find yourself, you will be a foreigner and a pilgrim; you will never find rest unless you unite yourself intimately to Christ" (Thomas a Kempis, [i]De imitatione Christi[/i], 2, 1, 6).