Psalms 13:1-2

Psalm 13 ¹ 

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 

Psalms 32:3

32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, ⁷ 

my whole body wasted away, ⁸ 

while I groaned in pain all day long.

Psalms 38:6

38:6 I am dazed ⁹  and completely humiliated; ¹⁰ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

Psalms 43:2

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. ¹¹ 

Why do you reject me? ¹² 

Why must I walk around ¹³  mourning ¹⁴ 

because my enemies oppress me?

Psalms 102:9-10

102:9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread, ¹⁵ 

and mix my drink with my tears, ¹⁶ 

102:10 because of your anger and raging fury.

Indeed, ¹⁷  you pick me up and throw me away.

Isaiah 38:14

38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,

I coo ¹⁸  like a dove;

my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ¹⁹ 

O sovereign master, ²⁰  I am oppressed;

help me! ²¹ 

[13:1]  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.

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ³ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[13:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”

[13:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”

[13:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”

[32:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “when I was silent.”

[32:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “my bones became brittle.” The psalmist pictures himself as aging and growing physically weak. Trying to cover up his sin brought severe physical consequences.

[38:6]  ⁹ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[43:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

[43:2]  ¹² tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

[43:2]  ¹³ tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

[43:2]  ¹⁴ sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.

[102:9]  ¹⁵ sn Mourners would sometimes put ashes on their head or roll in ashes as a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Isa 58:5).

[102:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “weeping.”

[102:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for.”

[38:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”

[38:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”

[38:14]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[38:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.