Of David, a maskil The Sages said (Pes. 117a): Every Psalm in which “maskil” is mentioned was said through an interpreter.

Praiseworthy is he whose transgression is forgiven Whose transgression the Holy One, Blessed Be He, forgives, and He conceals his sins.

(נשוי is anpardone in Old French, pardoned. The implication is forgiveness, because the forgiveness of iniquity represents [the sin] being lifted up and withdrawn from upon a person.)

to whom the Lord ascribes no iniquity provided that in his spirit there is no guile, thinking to revert to his “vomit.”

When I was silent When I was silent, [when I refrained] from confessing my transgressions before You.

my bones decayed because of my many sighs and my worries all day, that I was worrying about the punishment.

For [both] day and night the fear of Your hand and Your decrees was heavy upon me.

my freshness was transformed Heb. לשדי, my moisture, and so (in Num. 11:8): “the moisture (לשד) of oil,” the moisture of oil. This is how Dunash explained it (p. 14). Menachem (p. 171) associates [it with] an expression of plunder as (above 12:6): “from the plunder (משד) of the poor”; (above 17: 9) “Because of the wicked who have robbed me (שדוני).”

as in the droughts of summer Until it dries up as the drought of summer out of my worry of the heaviness of Your hand, that I was worrying about my sins; therefore...

I would inform You of my sin always. This is a present tense. For I said, It is good that I should confess my transgressions to the Lord, and now that I confessed and said to Nathan the prophet, “I have sinned,” (as in II Samuel 12:13)...You forgave the iniquity of my sin as the matter that is stated there (verse 13): “Also the Lord has removed your sin, etc.”

at the time that You are found When You are found to accept his prayer, and what is this?...only about a flood of vast waters that they should not reach him, that he should not fall into the hands of enemies, who are like flooding waters. And so we find that David prayed for this and said (II Sam. 24: 14): “Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but into the hand of man let me not fall.”

You are a shelter for me to hide in Your shadow from before the enemy.

You guard me Heb. תצרני, like תשמרני.

songs of deliverance A song of rescue.

You encompass me Heb. תסובבני. This is the present tense. You always encompassed me with songs of deliverance. And so You said to me...

I will enlighten you and instruct you which way to go.

I will wink With My eye; I will hint to you what to do. איעצה is an expression of winking the eye, as (in Prov. 16:30): “He winks (עצה) his eyes to think perverse thoughts.”

Be not like a horse, like a mule which does not discern between one who benefits him and one who does him harm, for when you insert a bit into his mouth, he closes his mouth and shakes his bridle, and when you curry him and brush him, you must close his mouth and chastise him with a bit and bridle while you adorn him and groom him.

so that...he does not come near you So that he should not come near you to hurt you while you groom him, with bit and bridle (when he is being groomed, to close his mouth. When he is being groomedwhile you curry him and brush himyou must close his mouth with a bit and bridle so that he does not come near you.) בלימה is an expression of closing in the language of the Mishnah: Its mouth is closed (בלום), its feet are closed (מבלמות), in Tractate Bechoroth (40b). (Menachem associated לבלום, and also בלימה [Job 26:7] as an expression of regulating [p. 45].)