Psalms 73:6

73:6 Arrogance is their necklace, ¹ 

and violence their clothing. ² 

Psalms 77:3

77:3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan;

I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” ³  (Selah)

Psalms 61:2

61:2 From the most remote place on earth ⁴ 

I call out to you in my despair. ⁵ 

Lead me ⁶  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ⁷ 

Psalms 65:13

65:13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,

and the valleys are covered with grain.

They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.

Psalms 102:1

Psalm 102 ⁸ 

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.

102:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my cry for help! ⁹ 

Psalms 142:3

142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, ¹⁰ 

you watch my footsteps. ¹¹ 

In the path where I walk

they have hidden a trap for me.

[73:6]  ¹ sn Arrogance is their necklace. The metaphor suggests that their arrogance is something the wicked “wear” proudly. It draws attention to them, just as a beautiful necklace does to its owner.

[73:6]  ² tn Heb “a garment of violence covers them.” The metaphor suggests that violence is habitual for the wicked. They “wear” it like clothing; when one looks at them, violence is what one sees.

[77:3]  ³ tn Heb “I will remember God and I will groan, I will reflect and my spirit will grow faint.” The first three verbs are cohortatives, the last a perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The psalmist’s statement in v. 4 could be understood as concurrent with v. 1, or, more likely, as a quotation of what he had said earlier as he prayed to God (see v. 2). The words “I said” are supplied in the translation at the beginning of the verse to reflect this interpretation (see v. 10).

[61:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).

[61:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “while my heart faints.”

[61:2]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[61:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”

[102:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.

[102:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”

[142:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

[142:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you know my path.”