The psalmist begins with “Surely (or, Only) toward God my soul (in) silence; from him (is) my salvation”–an eloquent statement of trust in the God who alone can save him. The word translated alone is used at the beginning of verses 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 9, and sets the tone of this confident expression of faith. Waits: either for God to speak or to act. If the translator accepts the sense of waiting for God to speak, he may translate 1a as “I wait silently for God to speak” or “I remain quiet waiting for words from God.” Good News Translation has taken in silence to mean without complaining, that is, “patiently”; New Jerusalem Bible “quietly”; Bible en français courant “tranquil.” Some, however, instead of assuming that a verb like “to wait for” is implied, understand the Hebrew text to mean “Only in God is rest (or, peace) for my soul”; so Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Only in God do I find peace,” and New Jerusalem Bible “In God alone there is rest for my soul” (see Bible en français courant and New International Version). Either of the two is possible, and perhaps the latter is to be preferred. The prepositional phrase “in God” indicates that God is the source of peace, and the idea may be expressed by “God alone can give rest (or, peace) to my soul.”

Verse 2 begins in the same way: He only is my rock and my salvation; for rock see 18.2 and comments, and for salvation see comments on the related verb translated “Help” in 12.1. For comments on fortress see 9.9 (“stronghold”). The translator may be able to preserve the figure of the rock by making some adjustments. For instance, it may be possible to say “he protects me like a rock, and he is the one who saves me.” If the use of the rock as a figure for protection is not meaningful in the language, it may be possible to employ a local equivalent. If that is not possible it is better to shift to a nonfigurative usage such as Good News Translation.

The verb translated be … moved is found also in 10.6. The word translated greatly by Revised Standard Version is a bit problematic; most (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), like Good News Translation, take it to mean here “not” or “never”; so New Jerusalem Bible “I shall never be shaken.” Bible en français courant has “With him there is no risk of failure.” It would seem a bit out of place for the psalmist to state “I shall not be badly shaken,” but this could be the meaning intended. Briggs and Weiser omit the word.

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 .