Psalm 39:3

Modern

My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

Traditional

My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

Literal

My heart became hot within me; in my musing, a fire was kindled; I have spoken with my tongue:

Latin

Concaluit cor meum intra me; et in meditatione mea exardescet ignis.

Hebrew

English

My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:

Suffering in silence makes the psalmist's anguish, pain, and inner distress worse.

This prayer for rescue shows the psalmist's discouragement, which comes from not fully understanding his situation.

Theme notes and profiles

Jeremiah 20:9
If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
Luke 24:32
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Ezekiel 3:14
So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.