I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.
David confesses he was seized with extreme bitterness that forced him to break forth in complaint and vehemence he never intended. He wrestled with great effort to resist despair, and his prayers show the depth of his trouble of mind.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 39:1-13
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it. This had been far clearer if it had been rendered, "I am silenced, I will not open my mouth." Here we have a nobler silence, purged of all sullenness, and sweetened with submission. Nature failed to muzzle the mouth, but grace achieved the work in the worthiest manner. How like in appearance may two very different things appear!
When the world yields no solid satisfaction, we must look heaven-ward to God. David abandons all expectation from earthly things, nothing to wish for, nothing to hope for from this earth, and takes hold of happiness in God alone, for creature-confidences fail but He remains.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 39:7-13