Possible meanings are 1) the author speaks of God causing bad things to happen to him as if he were a city and God was an enemy that built up siege works against him. AT: "God attacked me like an enemy army that sets up siege works around a city" or 2) the author speaks of God causing the enemy army to attack Jerusalem as if God were the enemy. AT: "God caused the enemy army to build up siege works against me" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
This represents God causing him to experience much bitterness and hardship. AT: "caused me to experience much bitterness and hardship" or "caused me to suffer and have many problems" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
# bitterness
Here "bitterness" represents suffering. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
# He made me live in dark places, like those who died long ago
Here "dark places" is a metaphor for suffering. The author compares the intensity of his suffering to the intensity of the darkness that those who died long ago experience. AT: "The suffering that he causes me is intense like the darkness of the grave" or "He makes me suffer terribly, as if I were in the darkness of those who died long ago" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-simile]])
# He built a wall around me and I cannot escape. He made my chains heavy
This represents the continuing suffering. Like a person who cannot escape from prison, the author cannot make his suffering stop. AT: "My suffering continues. It is as though he has built a wall around me and put heavy chains on me, and I cannot escape" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
The author speaks about God refusing to listen to his prayers as though God was shutting his ears so that the author's prayers could not go into them. AT: "he refuses to hear my prayer" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]])