Psalms 119:36

119:36 Give me a desire for your rules, ¹ 

rather than for wealth gained unjustly. ² 

Psalms 30:9

30:9 “What ³  profit is there in taking my life, ⁴ 

in my descending into the Pit? ⁵ 

Can the dust of the grave ⁶  praise you?

Can it declare your loyalty? ⁷ 

[119:36]  ¹ tn Heb “turn my heart to your rules.”

[119:36]  ² tn Heb “and not unjust gain.”

[30:9]  ³ sn The following two verses (vv. 9-10) contain the prayer (or an excerpt of the prayer) that the psalmist offered to the Lord during his crisis.

[30:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.

[30:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4).

[30:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:9]  ⁷ tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”