Mazmur 71:9

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

When my strength fails, do not abandon me!

Mazmur 32:4

32:4 For day and night you tormented me; ² 

you tried to destroy me ³  in the intense heat ⁴  of summer. ⁵  (Selah)

Mazmur 38:10

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ⁶ 

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

[32:4]  ² tn Heb “your hand was heavy upon me.”

[32:4]  ³ tc Heb “my [?] was turned.” The meaning of the Hebrew term לְשַׁד (lÿshad) is uncertain. A noun לָשָׁד (lashad, “cake”) is attested in Num 11:8, but it would make no sense to understand that word in this context. It is better to emend the form to לְשֻׁדִּי (lÿshuddiy, “to my destruction”) and understand “your hand” as the subject of the verb “was turned.” In this case the text reads, “[your hand] was turned to my destruction.” In Lam 3:3 the author laments that God’s “hand” was “turned” (הָפַךְ, hafakh) against him in a hostile sense.

[32:4]  sn You tried to destroy me. The psalmist’s statement reflects his perspective. As far as he was concerned, it seemed as if the Lord was trying to kill him.

[32:4]  ⁴ tn The translation assumes that the plural form indicates degree. If one understands the form as a true plural, then one might translate, “in the times of drought.”

[32:4]  ⁵ sn Summer. Perhaps the psalmist suffered during the hot season and perceived the very weather as being an instrument of divine judgment. Another option is that he compares his time of suffering to the uncomfortable and oppressive heat of summer.

[38:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).