Psalm 39

It seems as though David was going through a time of suffering, and that’s what prompted this psalm. At one point, it got so bad that David asked God how much longer he had left in this world: “O Lord, let me know my end and how many days I have to live. Let me know that I do not have long to stay here. You have made each of my days as long as a hand is wide. My whole life is nothing in your eyes. Every man at his best is only a breath.” (vs 4-5)

The statement David makes acknowledges the transience of life on this Earth. From God’s perspective, we are “here” today and “gone” tomorrow. Even those of us who live to be over a hundred are still, to God, only “a breath.”

I don’t pretend to know everything (or anything!) about how God relates to time, but it’s at least obvious to me that God exists outside of time. He is not bound by our time—that’s why Peter wrote that, with the Lord, “one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” (2 Pet 3:8) What seems like a long time to us is just a second to God—and vice versa. He relates to time in a completely different way than we do.

Recently, I heard about a radio sermon where the speaker talked about the difference between what is perishable and what is permanent. Simply put, in this life, everything except God is perishable. We can’t hang onto anything—not even our very lives. All things exist in a state of transition and will eventually pass away if time lasts long enough.

On the other hand, God and our relationship with Him is permanent. Even if everything passes away on this Earth—even if we pass away—God still holds us in the palm of His hand. His faithfulness is sure. His promises are permanent. He is the one thing in our lives that is not perishable.

We may be only “a breath,” but it is God who gave us that breath in the first place, and He’s not going anywhere. He is now and always will be permanent.