6:3 I am absolutely terrified, 1
and you, Lord – how long will this continue? 2
49:9 so that he might continue to live 3 forever
and not experience death. 4
71:14 As for me, I will wait continually,
and will continue to praise you. 5
109:4 They repay my love with accusations, 6
but I continue to pray. 7
A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention. 9
38:1 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger!
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury! 10
1 tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
2 tn Heb “and you,
3 tn The jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is taken as indicating purpose/result in relation to the statement made in v. 8. (On this use of the jussive after an imperfect, see GKC 322 §109.f.) In this case v. 8 is understood as a parenthetical comment.
4 tn Heb “see the Pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 55:24; 103:4).
5 tn Heb “and I add to all your praise.”
6 tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”
7 tn Heb “and I, prayer.”
8 sn Psalm 38. The author asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He confesses his sin and recognizes that the crisis he faces is the result of divine discipline. Yet he begs the Lord not to reject him.
9 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the heading of Ps 70. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).
10 tn The words “continue to” are supplied in the translation of both lines. The following verses make it clear that the psalmist is already experiencing divine rebuke/punishment. He asks that it might cease.