In this strophe (letter kaf, verses 81-88) the psalmist complains that Yahweh has abandoned him, and so he prays insistently that he will come to his help and save him from his enemies. The Good News Translation heading may have to be modified if used; for example, “The psalmist asks God to deliver him from his enemies.”

Verse 81 begins “My nefesh is worn out for your salvation” (see Revised Standard Version); Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “I anxiously await for you to save me.” See similar language in verse 20a, “My soul is consumed with longing,” and in verse 28a “My soul melts away.” The psalmist is in despair, but still he trusts Yahweh to save him; for verse 81b see verse 74b. The relation of My soul languishes to for thy salvation is that of result to reason. In some languages this relationship will require shifting the clauses to say “I have waited for you to save me, and now I am worn out” or “I have waited so long for … that now I am worn out.”

Verse 82 repeats the same complaint (see similar language in 69.3); My eyes fail is an expressive way of saying that he has kept on waiting, in vain, for God’s help (see the same expression in verse 123). Thy promise as the object of the verb “to watch” means “what you have promised,” that is, deliverance from enemies or illness. In verse 82b the verb “to comfort” implicitly includes the idea that Yahweh will deliver the psalmist from his enemies; for other passages where the verb is used, see 23.4; 71.21; 119.76.

In verse 83 a wineskin in the smoke refers to a wineskin (usually made of goatskin) that has been hanging up near the ceiling and which the smoke has blackened and shriveled to such an extent that it is no longer useful and should be thrown away. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy discards the figure altogether and translates “I am an old man, useless and forgotten.” The only trouble with this is that the figure does not necessarily mean that the psalmist was an old man; and the claim in verse 100 has no validity to it if the psalmist himself was an old man (and see verse 9). In many languages Good News Translation‘s “useless as a discarded wineskin” will have little or no meaning. Accordingly the translator has two choices: either to say something like “I am of no account,” or to use a local object such as a woven bag that hangs in a smokey kitchen hut. For forgotten see verses 16b, 61b.

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 .