Mazmur 38:11

38:11 Because of my condition, ¹  even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; ² 

my neighbors stand far away. ³ 

Mazmur 69:1-3

Psalm 69 ⁴ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ⁵  by David.

69:1 Deliver me, O God,

for the water has reached my neck. ⁶ 

69:2 I sink into the deep mire

where there is no solid ground; ⁷ 

I am in ⁸  deep water,

and the current overpowers me.

69:3 I am exhausted from shouting for help;

my throat is sore; ⁹ 

my eyes grow tired of looking for my God. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 88:14-16

88:14 O Lord, why do you reject me,

and pay no attention to me? ¹¹ 

88:15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. ¹² 

I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain. ¹³ 

88:16 Your anger overwhelms me; ¹⁴ 

your terrors destroy me.

[38:11]  ¹ tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

[38:11]  ² tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

[38:11]  ³ tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

[69:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.

[69:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.

[69:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.

[69:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and there is no place to stand.”

[69:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “have entered.”

[69:3]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “raw”; Heb “burned; enflamed.”

[69:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my eyes fail from waiting for my God.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision.

[88:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[why] do you hide your face from me?”

[88:15]  ¹² tn Heb “and am dying from youth.”

[88:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “I carry your horrors [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew form אָפוּנָה (’afunah), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. It may be an adverb meaning “very much” (BDB 67 s.v.), though some prefer to emend the text to אָפוּגָה (’afugah, “I am numb”) from the verb פוּג (pug; see Pss 38:8; 77:2).

[88:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “passes over me.”