Psalms 38:6

38:6 I am dazed ¹  and completely humiliated; ² 

all day long I walk around mourning.

Psalms 42:9

42:9 I will pray ³  to God, my high ridge: ⁴ 

“Why do you ignore ⁵  me?

Why must I walk around mourning ⁶ 

because my enemies oppress me?”

Psalms 43:2

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. ⁷ 

Why do you reject me? ⁸ 

Why must I walk around ⁹  mourning ¹⁰ 

because my enemies oppress me?

[38:6]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[42:9]  ³ tn The cohortative form indicates the psalmist’s resolve.

[42:9]  ⁴ tn This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28; Pss 18:2; 31:3.

[42:9]  ⁵ tn Or “forget.”

[42:9]  ⁶ sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar idea.

[43:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

[43:2]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.