Lines a and b of verse 1 express essentially the same meaning. However, my groaning is a characteristic intensification of my words in line a. Furthermore, in Hebrew the syntactic order of the two lines is reversed and therefore chiastic–a device the psalmist uses to heighten the impact of the verse as a unit. Line a of verse 2 continues with the same word order as line b of verse 1, providing a transition through syntactic repetition. Translators must find the devices in their own languages which signal this kind of intensification. Simply following the English or Hebrew will not necessarily result in a good and accurate translation. In English we may try to represent this effect of the parallelism by saying, for example, “Listen to what I am saying, O LORD; don’t you hear how I am crying out each word?” or “LORD, hear what I am saying to you; I am even calling out in tears.”

Give ear is a somewhat literal translation of a Hebrew request, “Listen” (Good News Translation).

The psalmist’s words refer to his prayers to Yahweh, and groaning in line b indicates that he prays because he is suffering and in distress. The noun translated groaning appears only here and in 39.3 (Revised Standard Version “mused”). It is related to the verb translated “meditate” in 1.2, and some take the noun here to mean “meditation” (so New English Bible “inmost thoughts”), which does not fit the context as well.

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 .