The psalm closes with a final plea for the LORD’s help (verse 12a-c). Verse 12c means “don’t be indifferent to my weeping” (New Jerusalem Bible “do not disregard my tears,” New Jerusalem Bible “do not remain deaf to my weeping”) or, as a positive request, “help me when you see me crying.” In a striking figure the psalmist speaks of his life on earth as thy passing guest, a sojourner, which means that he is a temporary guest in Yahweh’s tent. This life, life on earth, was the place where the pious Israelite enjoyed Yahweh’s favor, his “hospitality.” Like all his ancestors, the psalmist too would soon leave (see 1 Chr 29.15). The expression thy passing guest is rendered in some languages as “the stranger who comes and goes quickly.”

For the short time he will still be the LORD’s guest, the psalmist asks him to spare him further punishment (verse 13). The request Look away from me in the sense “Leave me alone” (Good News Translation) is strange, since usually a prayer is for the LORD to “look at” a person, to bless and rescue. To bring out the idea here, New English Bible has “Frown on me no more”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “turn away your reproachful look from me.” In this way the psalmist will know gladness before inevitable death comes, before I depart and be no more. The pious Israelite believed that in Sheol he would be cut off from any relationship with Yahweh; death was the end of meaningful existence (see 6.5; Job 10.20-22). That I may know gladness is expressed in some languages idiomatically; for example, “that my heart may sit quietly” or “that my stomach may feel full.” Line b will have to be translated in some languages as simply “before I die.”

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 .