With verse 7 the three-line structures come to an abrupt halt. The first six verses stepped up progressively the intensification of the psalmist’s problems of being silent and living a very short life. Verse 7 shifts the thought and at the same time makes a break with the line pattern. The reason why the buildup of intensification ends as the psalmist takes up the theme of sin-suffering in verse 8 is that he is not depicting the progression of it, but rather is asking to be rescued from it.

Realizing that there is no human endeavor in which he can place his hope (for what do I wait, verse 7a; see comments at 25.3; 38.15), the psalmist declares My hope is in thee, which can sometimes be rendered “I look to you with confidence.”

This affirmation of faith leads him to pray for Yahweh to save him from all his sins, which may be a way of asking God to cure him of his disease, which was caused by his sins, or to free him from the power of sin. Or else, as Bible en français courant translates, the meaning may be “Save me from all who betray me” (so New English Bible “all who do me wrong”). This healing would then spare the psalmist the mockery of fools (for fool see comments on 14.1). The scorn of the fool is an expression which can be translated in some languages as “the laughing of persons who have black livers” or “the scorn of gourd-head people.”

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 .