Psalms 71:9

71:9 Do not reject me in my old age! ¹ 

When my strength fails, do not abandon me!

Psalms 21:9

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace ²  when you appear; ³ 

the Lord angrily devours them; ⁴ 

the fire consumes them.

Psalms 32:6

32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers ⁵  should pray to you

while there is a window of opportunity. ⁶ 

Certainly ⁷  when the surging water ⁸  rises,

it will not reach them. ⁹ 

[71:9]  ¹ tn Heb “do not cast me away at the time of old age.”

[21:9]  ² tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

[21:9]  ³ tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

[21:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

[32:6]  ³ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[32:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the Lord]” and seek his forgiveness (cf. NIV). Some emend the text by combining מְצֹא (mÿtso’, “finding”) with the following term רַק (raq, “only, surely”) and read either ר[וֹ]מָצ (matsor, “distress”; see Ps 31:22) or ק[וֹ]מָצ (matsoq, “hardship”; see Ps 119:143). In this case, one may translate “in a time of distress/hardship” (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[32:6]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.

[32:6]  ⁶ sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.

[32:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.