Psalms 73:26-28

73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, ¹ 

but God always ²  protects my heart and gives me stability. ³ 

73:27 Yes, ⁴  look! Those far from you ⁵  die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ⁶ 

73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. ⁷ 

I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,

as ⁸  I declare all the things you have done.

[73:26]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “forever.”

[73:26]  ³ 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.

[73:27]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[73:27]  ⁵ sn The following line defines the phrase far from you in a spiritual sense. Those “far” from God are those who are unfaithful and disloyal to him.

[73:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “everyone who commits adultery from you.”

[73:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “but as for me, the nearness of God for me [is] good.”

[73:28]  ⁸ tn The infinitive construct with -לְ (lÿ) is understood here as indicating an attendant circumstance. Another option is to take it as indicating purpose (“so that I might declare”) or result (“with the result that I declare”).