For the music director; a psalm of David.
13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? 2
How long will you pay no attention to me? 3
13:2 How long must I worry, 4
and suffer in broad daylight? 5
How long will my enemy gloat over me? 6
79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 7
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 8 burn like fire?
85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever?
Will you remain angry throughout future generations? 9
90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!
How long must this suffering last? 10
Have pity on your servants! 11
1 sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.
2 tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”
3 tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”
4 tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”
5 tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”
6 tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”
7 tn Heb “How long, O
8 tn Or “jealous anger.”
9 tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”
10 tn Heb “Return, O
11 tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (’al) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.