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General Information:
The writer continues telling of what God did to the Israelites.
cut short their days
Here the word "days" refers to a lifetime. The idiom "to cut short ... days" means to cause someone to die before they have lived a long life. AT: "killed them while they were still young" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-euphemism)
their years were filled with terror
Asaph speaks of years as if they were containers. AT: "year after year they were afraid all the time" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
to seek him
to ask him what they needed to do so he would protect them (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom)
afflicted them, they would ... they would return and look
These are different people from those whose days God "cut short." When some of them died, others would "start to seek" God.
would return
"would repent" or "would be truly sorry for their sins"
earnestly
"urgently" or "as best they could"