How long must I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart day after day?
How long will my enemy exalt himself and triumph over me?

The law of the Lord is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul;
The statutes of the Lord are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple.

For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And even my body has wasted away.

The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).

I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother;
I bowed down in mourning, as one who sorrows for his mother.

For I am ready to fall;
My sorrow is continually before me.

For I do confess my guilt and iniquity;
I am filled with anxiety because of my sin.

My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

Let them be as a snail which melts away (secretes slime) as it goes along,
Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.

You who have shown me many troubles and distresses
Will revive and renew me again,
And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

My eye grows dim with sorrow.
O Lord, I have called on You every day;
I have spread out my hands to You [in prayer].

O Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses [so abundant in the days of David and Solomon],
Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?

The days of our life are seventy years—
Or even, if because of strength, eighty years;
Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow,
For it is soon gone and we fly away.

Your precepts are fully confirmed and completely reliable;
Holiness adorns Your house,
O Lord, forever.

“Therefore I swore [an oath] in My wrath,
‘They absolutely shall not enter My rest [the land of promise].’”

He has exhausted my strength [humbling me with sorrow] in the way;
He has shortened my days.

When they are diminished and bowed down (humbled)
Through oppression, misery, and sorrow,

The works of His hands are truth and [absolute] justice;
All His precepts are sure (established, reliable, trustworthy).

The cords and sorrows of death encompassed me,
And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.

All Your commandments are faithful and trustworthy.
They have persecuted me with a lie; help me [Lord]!

How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

The Lord swore to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“One of your descendants I will set upon your throne.