The psalm begins with a bitter cry of complaint to God for having abandoned his people (see similar language in 44.9-12).

The verb translated broken our defenses is taken to mean to break through (enemy lines), to make a breach. So Bible en français courant translates “You have broken through our ranks,” and New Jerusalem Bible “you have made a breach in us.” But many translations, like Good News Translation, use less specific expressions: “broken us,” “displaced us.”

In verse 1b the verbal form translated restore us (Good News Translation “turn back to us”) may possibly be read as a statement, “you have turned away from us” (so, with variations, Briggs, Dahood, Weiser, An American Translation, New English Bible, Good News Translation footnote); Anderson is of the opinion that this is not very likely. It is better to translate as a petition.

God’s actions are compared to those resulting from an earthquake, in which the land (Israel, that is) trembles and splits open (verse 2a), and God is requested to repair the breaks, for which Good News Translation has “heal its wounds.” The country “is falling apart” (New Jerusalem Bible “collapsing”), literally “is shaking, tottering”–see the verb used of mountains in 46.3, where it is translated “tremble.” In verse 2b the verb translated “heal” (Good News Translation) is not in its normal form, but many take it to be a variant of the verb “to heal.” Revised Standard Version repair its breaches keeps the vivid metaphor of an earthquake; so New Jerusalem Bible “mend the rifts,” and New Jerusalem Bible “mend its fissures.” The translator must decide whether this will be appropriate and understandable in the receptor language. New English Bible, however, takes the verb in the sense it normally has of “sink down,” and translates “it gives way” (similarly Briggs, Dahood). In many languages it is not possible to speak of healing the wounds of the land. Therefore it may be necessary to say, for example, “make the land strong again,” “close the holes in the earth,” or “repair the ground that is cut open.”

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 .