Mazmur 31:8-9

31:8 You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;

you enable me to stand ¹  in a wide open place.

31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!

My eyes grow dim ²  from suffering. ³ 

I have lost my strength. ⁴ 

[31:8]  ¹ tn Heb “you cause my feet to stand.”

[31:9]  ² tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[31:9]  ³ tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.

[31:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.