¹sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).
²tn Or “show me favor.”
³tn Normally the verb lhb refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.
⁴tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of vpn (“being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
⁵tn Heb “and you, Lord, how long?” The suffering psalmist speaks in broken syntax. He addresses God, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, question: How long will his suffering continue?
⁶tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of vpn, “being,” is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
⁷sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.
⁸tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun rkz (“remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. See HALOT 271 and Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.
⁹tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”
sn In Sheol who gives you thanks? According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 30:9; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!
¹⁰tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”
¹¹tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”
¹²tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.
¹³tn Or perhaps, “are swollen” (see HALOT 898).
¹⁴tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”
¹⁵sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.
¹⁶tn Heb “all [you] workers of wickedness.” See Ps 5:5.
¹⁷sn The Lord has heard. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes because the Lord responded positively to the lament and petition of vv. 1-7 and promised him deliverance.
¹⁸tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a preterite here; it is parallel to a perfect and refers to the fact that the Lord has responded favorably to the psalmist’s request.
¹⁹tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling judgment down on his enemies.
²⁰tn Heb “and may they be very terrified.” The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. Now he asks the Lord to turn the tables and cause his enemies to know what absolute terror feels like.
²¹sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.
²²tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term /oyG`v! (translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root hgv, “swerve, reel,” and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.
²³tn Or “on account of.”
²⁴sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.