Psalms 6:3

6:3 I am absolutely terrified, ¹ 

and you, Lord – how long will this continue? ² 

Psalms 13:1-2

Psalm 13 ³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ⁴ 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ⁵ 

13:2 How long must I worry, ⁶ 

and suffer in broad daylight? ⁷ 

How long will my enemy gloat over me? ⁸ 

Psalms 74:9-10

74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; ⁹ 

there are no longer any prophets ¹⁰ 

and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. ¹¹ 

74:10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?

Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

Psalms 89:46

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? ¹² 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

Psalms 94:3-4

94:3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,

how long will the wicked celebrate? ¹³ 

94:4 They spew out threats ¹⁴  and speak defiantly;

all the evildoers boast. ¹⁵ 

[6:3]  ¹ tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[6:3]  ² tn Heb “and you, Lord, how long?” The suffering psalmist speaks in broken syntax. He addresses God, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, question: How long will this (= his suffering) continue?

[13:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[13:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”

[13:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”

[13:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”

[74:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).

[74:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”

[74:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”

[89:46]  ¹² tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”

[94:3]  ¹³ tn Or “exult.”

[94:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”

[94:4]  ¹⁵ tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).