The final two verses repeat in more emphatic and general terms the promise that Yahweh will keep you. It is to be noticed that the verb “to keep” is used in verses 3, 4, 6, 7, 8. All evil in verse 7a includes all kinds of danger and harm; this is not a reference to moral evil or sin. In verse 7b he will keep your life means “he will keep you safe (from harm).”

In verse 8 the Hebrew phrase your going out and your coming in is taken by Good News Translation and others in the sense of journeys or of activity in general, that is, from the time the man left the house in the morning until he returned in the evening (see the use of the phrase in this sense in Deut 28.6). It may also be translated “wherever you go” or “wherever you may be.” Some take the phrase to be quite specific: “when you leave here and when you arrive at your destination,” that is, for the whole journey. The general sense seems to be preferable.

Line c is an emphatic assertion of the fact that Yahweh’s protection lasts forever.

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 .