In line a the psalmist expresses his confidence in God’s guidance; God will always give him the instruction he needs in this life. With thy counsel or Good News Translation‘s “with your instruction” states the means by which God leads the psalmist, and may have to be recast in some languages to say, for example, “your teaching shows me the way to go” or “you teach me and I follow your way.”
It is disputed whether line b refers to eternal life after death as such. It should be noted that the Hebrew word kabod “glory” nowhere in the Old Testament has the explicit meaning of “heaven” as the place where God dwells (see comments, 3.3; 7.5). Further, there is no preposition in the Hebrew text that modifies the word “glory”; the Septuagint and other ancient versions have “with glory.” The verb receive is the one used in 49.15 (see comments there) and is the one which is used of Enoch in Genesis 5.24. The passage here, though not a clear statement of a belief in resurrection or of a bodily assumption into heaven, seems to express a confidence that the psalmist will enjoy unbroken communion with God (Briggs, Dahood, Oesterley, Anderson, Weiser, Toombs, McCullough). Kirkpatrick and Cohen take it to mean vindication in this life. Bible de Jérusalem translates “and behind the glory you will take me,” taking the word “glory” to mean the brightness hiding God’s being, reminiscent of the cloud at the exodus from Egypt. New Jerusalem Bible has “You … led me toward honor,” which is not very clear; Bible en français courant “afterward you will hold me in your glory”; and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “you will hold me afterwards, with glory.” In some languages “receive me with honor” (as in Good News Translation) is to “receive me as a chief,” or “welcome me with praise,” or “accept me with good words.”
Good News Translation‘s “and at the end” suggests a more final state of things than Revised Standard Version‘s and afterward. In many languages, if the translator follows Good News Translation, it will be necessary to state the end of something. If death is not the primary meaning, this will most often be misleading. Therefore it may be best to say, for example, “and then,” leaving open the question of “end of life.”
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 .