In the last part of the psalm (verses 33-42), Yahweh is praised for all he does for his people. Revised Standard Version and others (New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) use the present tense of the verbs throughout the section, which serves to portray God in terms of his continual deeds of goodness; Good News Translation and others (An American Translation, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, New American Bible, Dahood) use the past tense, which serves to speak of Yahweh’s actions in the past on behalf of his people. Considering the nature of this song of praise (see introduction to this psalm), it seems that the present tense is more appropriate. Dahood, however, argues for the unity of the psalm, holding that the psalmist is here referring to happenings in the past. This same viewpoint is expressed in the footnote to verse 36 in New American Bible: “the psalmist probably has in mind the settlement and development of the Promised Land (36ff), the hard times caused by the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions (39), the humiliation and exile of the last kings of Judah (40), and the restoration of Zion after the exile (41).”

Verses 33-34 speak of how Yahweh punishes wicked people: he ruins their fertile soil by drying up their rivers and springs; verse 35 shows the opposite action. Perhaps, as Dahood contends, the language is figurative, describing how Yahweh punished the original inhabitants of Canaan and blessed his people Israel. However that may be, the translation should be quite faithful in representing the language of the text.

At the same time care should be taken to describe in a natural manner what is actually reported. In verse 33 it is not natural to say that rivers become a desert; in straightforward terms, the rivers stop flowing and so the land they run through becomes a desert. In the same way springs of water do not become thirsty ground; the springs dry up and the land becomes “thirsty.” Something like the following can be said:

• The LORD makes rivers dry up
and makes springs stop flowing,
so the land becomes a barren desert.

In verse 34a the language of the text is quite natural and should offer no difficulty. For the language salty waste see Deuteronomy 29.23; Job 39.6; a salty waste is a place where no trees or plants will grow because of the saltiness of the soil. Land that has become a salty waste is not known in some areas. It will be necessary in some languages to say, for example, “land that has become useless” or “land that will produce no crops.”

Since verse 34b supplies the reason for Yahweh’s actions in verses 33a-b and 34a, it may be well to combine the two verses and give first the reason for Yahweh’s actions.

Verse 35 describes the opposite of verse 33; here the translation can be:

• He makes pools of water appear in deserts,
and makes springs flow in dry places.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .