Psalms 18:37

18:37 I chase my enemies and catch ¹  them;

I do not turn back until I wipe them out.

Psalms 39:10

39:10 Please stop wounding me! ² 

You have almost beaten me to death! ³ 

Psalms 71:9

71:9 Do not reject me in my old age! ⁴ 

When my strength fails, do not abandon me!

Psalms 73:26

73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, ⁵ 

but God always ⁶  protects my heart and gives me stability. ⁷ 

Psalms 74:11

74:11 Why do you remain inactive?

Intervene and destroy him! ⁸ 

Psalms 119:87

119:87 They have almost destroyed me here on the earth,

but I do not reject your precepts.

[18:37]  ¹ tn 2 Sam 22:38 reads “destroy.”

[39:10]  ² tn Heb “remove from upon me your wound.”

[39:10]  ³ tn Heb “from the hostility of your hand I have come to an end.”

[71:9]  ³ tn Heb “do not cast me away at the time of old age.”

[73:26]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).

[73:26]  ⁵ tn Or “forever.”

[73:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to a rocky summit where one could go for protection and to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[74:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.