The psalmist describes his condition (verses 4-9), reporting first his confession of sin to the LORD and his prayer for healing (verse 4). For be gracious to me see 4.1c and comments. This may be translated “have mercy on me,” “take pity on me.”
In verse 4b heal me translates “heal my nefesh” (see 3.2). The psalmist’s sickness is the result of his sin, so in confessing his sin he asks for forgiveness and healing. Revised Standard Version heal me, for I have sinned can be misunderstood to mean “God, you must heal me because I have sinned.” The for is not intended to justify the request but to explain the psalmist’s need for healing. A restructuring like the one used by Good News Translation may be helpful.
Sinned against thee must often be recast, since sins are not always spoken of as being against God. Accordingly one must sometimes say, for example, “I have sinned and I have offended you, LORD.”
The psalmist speaks of his enemies and their cruel taunts. As is common in psalms of lament, the enemies are not specifically identified, and one may only conjecture what was the reason for their hatred of the psalmist. In malice means either their attitude (“cruel, hateful”) or else refers to what they say: “speak of bad things”; so Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “My enemies wish the worst for me.”
In verse 5b Good News Translation has put in indirect form what in Hebrew is a direct quotation: “When will he die, and his name perish?”
The last part, his name perish, may mean simply to die and be forgotten, as Good News Translation has translated (see similar idea in 9.5-6; and see Anderson); or else, which would be worse, it may mean to die childless, leaving no descendants to carry on his name (so New English Bible “and his line become extinct”; also Dahood). And his name perish is difficult to translate in some languages, due to the passive nature of these constructions. One must sometimes say, for example, “they want me to die and people to forget me,” or following the other interpretation, “they want me to die without leaving any children.”
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 .