The Vanity of Life

Psalm 39

¹ I said, “I will watch my ways
    and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
    as long as the wicked are in my presence.”
² But when I was silent and still,
    not even saying anything good,
    my anguish increased.
³ My heart grew hot within me,
    and as I meditated, the fire burned;
    then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴ “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting is my life.
⁵ You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
    Each man’s life is but a breath. Selah
⁶ Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
    He bustles about, but only in vain;
    he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
    My hope is in you.
⁸ Save me from all my transgressions;
    do not make me the scorn of fools.
⁹ I was silent; I would not open my mouth,
    for you are the one who has done this.
¹⁰ Remove your scourge from me;
    I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
¹¹ You rebuke and discipline men for their sin;
    you consume their wealth like a moth—
    each man is but a breath. Selah

¹² “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
    listen to my cry for help;
    be not deaf to my weeping.
For I dwell with you as an alien,
    a stranger, as all my fathers were.
¹³ Look away from me, that I may rejoice again
    before I depart and am no more.”

I think what really counts in my life is to fear God and keep His Commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Everything else under the sun just fades in comparison...