to call to mind. The
Hebrew infinitive lehazkir is anomalous in the superscription of a
psalm, appearing here and at the beginning of Psalm 70. It may simply refer to
the speaker’s intention to bring to mind his suffering in his supplication to
God. It might also have a connotation of confession: compare the words of
Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer in Genesis 41:9, “My offenses I recall [mazkir]
today,” and those of the widow from Zarephath to Elijah in 1 Kings 17:18, “You
have come to me to recall [lehazkir] my crime.” (Robert Alter, The
Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:104)
