““Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!”” -Psalm 39:12–13
What do you want before you depart from this earth? This is a worthwhile question to keep in the back of our minds as we unpack this Psalm.
The Psalmist compares himself to a guest and sees himself as he really is in this life, a sojourner. His time on this planet is not long. He brought nothing with him when he came and he’ll take nothing with him when he goes. This notion is deeply rooted, not only in nature, but even in the law of God. He reminds them that none of the land they have taken to possess belongs to them. They are simply guests and should treat their stay on the land as such.
““The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.” -Leviticus 25:23
So what do most people want before they check out of their stay on this planet?
The Psalmist wants the the Lord’s favor upon him again.This closing plea of the Psalmist is for the Lord to answer his prayer, hear his cry, see his tears, turn his disciplinary gaze from him, and return his favor upon him that he might smile again before he departs and is no more.
Life is full of troubles Job reminds us (Job 5:7), and the Lord’s chastisement on our sins as a nation feel heavy (Hebrews 12:5-12 Cf. 1 Peter 4:17-19).
May God grant that we experience his favor in such a way that we are able to smile again before we depart this world and go the way of our fathers.