The psalm concludes with an assertion of ultimate victory. The speaker (me) is probably the king, as the leader of the army; the fortified city is probably Sela, the strongly defended capital of Edom, the country to the south. The context suggests a military conquest of Edom, but some take the verse to mean a flight to that city, where the king would be safe from his enemies. This does not seem very likely. Fortified city may sometimes be rendered “city which has protection,” or “city with strong walls to protect it,” or “city which men have built a wall around.”

Verse 10 is variously understood; Good News Translation takes it as a double question, by means of which the psalmist expresses his hope that God will change his mind and no longer reject his people (see verse 1) but will once again “march out with our armies” (see 44.9 and comments). But some, like Revised Standard Version, take the first part as a rhetorical question which affirms God’s rejection of his people, and the second part as a statement to the same effect. Others take verse 10 as a continuation of verse 9: “Who else but God, who rejected us, who does not march out with our armies?” (Weiser, Bible de Jérusalem, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). New Jerusalem Bible takes both parts as statements; Dahood takes the two as questions which indicate a hope that there is a change in God’s attitude (so Good News Translation). The choice seems to be between the interpretation expressed by Good News Translation and the one found in New Jerusalem Bible. The two are practically the same; it may be that the focus on the question in Good News Translation better suits the context. The verb in the expression go forth … with our armies in some languages is insufficient to indicate the purpose of the march. Therefore, sometimes one must translate “Aren’t you going to go with our armies to fight our enemies?”

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 .