Derek Kidner on Psalm 39:13

    “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 ESV)

Below is an excerpt on Psalm 39:13 from Derek Kidner's commentary on Psalms 1-72. Tim Keller mentions this in his sermon "Praying our Tears" which I recommended in Tuesday's post.

"Yet for the moment, like Job or Jeremiah, he can see no more than death, and ask no more than respite. The prayer of 13a makes no more sense than Peter's 'depart from me'; but God knows when to treat that plea as in Luke 5:8ff., and as in Matthew 8:34f. The very presence of such prayers in Scripture is a witness to his understanding. He knows how men speak when they are desperate." (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Psalms 1-72 by Derek Kidner, Inter-Varsity Press, page 176, emphasis mine.)

On a side note, this is an excellent commentary, well worth investing time to study its pages.