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 77:7

77:7 I asked, ⁷  “Will the Lord reject me forever?

Will he never again show me his favor?

Psalms 90:13

90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!

How long must this suffering last? ⁸ 

Have pity on your servants! ⁹ 

Luke 18:7

18:7 Won’t ¹⁰  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ¹¹  to him day and night? ¹²  Will he delay ¹³  long to help them?

[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?”

[77:7]  ⁷ tn As in vv. 4 and 6a, the words of vv. 7-9 are understood as a quotation of what the psalmist said earlier. Therefore the words “I asked” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[90:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Return, O Lord! How long?”

[90:13]  ⁹ 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.

[18:7]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:7]  ¹¹ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

[18:7]  ¹² tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

[18:7]  ¹³ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.