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Psalm 39:2

I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.

1For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”
2I was mute with silence. I held my peace, even from good. My sorrow was stirred.
3My heart was hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned. I spoke with my tongue:
4“LORD, show me my end, what is the measure of my days. Let me know how frail I am.
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← Psalm 39:1Psalm 39:3 →
Notice

“Even from good” makes David’s silence feel costly: his effort to guard his tongue has left good words unsaid and sorrow still growing.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What good words have you held back while trying to guard your tongue?

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When has keeping silent left you with more sorrow than you could express?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

9 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Acts 8:32Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn’t …Both passages describe someone remaining silent, though Acts pictures a lamb facing slaughter and David names sorrow within his silence.
Psalm 38:13But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.Both psalms use the language of being mute to describe a speaker who keeps his mouth closed.
Matthew 27:12–14When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.David holds his peace, and Jesus answers nothing when accused; both texts describe silence without assigning it the same purpose.
Acts 4:20for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”The connection is a contrast in speech: David holds back even good words, while the apostles cannot keep from telling what they witnessed.
Ecclesiastes 3:7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;Both texts concern silence and speech: Ecclesiastes names a time for each, while David describes the sorrow accompanying his silence.
Isaiah 53:7He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is …Both passages describe silence amid suffering; Isaiah names oppression and affliction, while David names sorrow that grows as he holds his peace.
Matthew 7:6“Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you …The overlap is limited: David withholds speech, while Jesus warns against giving holy things where they will be trampled.
Job 32:19–20Behold, my breast is as wine which has no vent; like new wineskins it is ready to burst.David describes sorrow growing while he stays silent; Job’s passage pictures inward pressure as wine with no vent.
Jeremiah 8:14“Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves! Let’s enter into the fortified cities, and let’s be silent there; for the LORD our God has put us to silence, and …Both passages describe painful silence, though Jeremiah names God’s judgment for sin and David describes his own restraint.
Where this verse fits

Grief. work conflict. family conflict.

What the Bible says about grief →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Tell a trusted friend what silence has been like

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Encouragement

Silence has brought David no relief. If your restraint has left sorrow unresolved, this psalm leaves room to say so before God; David’s next words turn toward him.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 39:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 39 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).