The psalmist once more reminds God of his desperate situation and prays for help. In Hebrew there is an alliteration in the words translated I am afflicted: waʾani ʿani. The passive afflicted means to be suffering, to be in pain; see the discussion of the term at 9.12.

The petition let thy salvation … set me on high means “rescue me from danger and put me in a place of safety.” Some take line b to be a confident statement (see New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), “You will lift me up…,” not a petition. It seems better to understand the line as a prayer, a petition.

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 .