Text -- Psalms 54:2-7 (NET)

54:2 O God, listen to my prayer! Pay attention to what I say! 54:3 For foreigners attack me; ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. (Selah) 54:4 Look, God is my deliverer! The Lord is among those who support me. 54:5 May those who wait to ambush me be repaid for their evil! As a demonstration of your faithfulness, destroy them! 54:6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you! I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good! 54:7 Surely he rescues me from all trouble, and I triumph over my enemies.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 54:2

¹ tn Heb “to the words of my mouth.”

NET Notes: Psa 54:3

¹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

² tn Heb “rise against me.”

³ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

NET Notes: Psa 54:4

¹ tn Or “my helper.”

² tn Or “sustain my life.”

NET Notes: Psa 54:5

¹ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.

² tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.

³ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

NET Notes: Psa 54:6

¹ tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve/vow to praise.

NET Notes: Psa 54:7

¹ tn Or “for,” indicating a more specific reason why he will praise the Lord’s name (cf. v. 6).

² tn The perfects in v. 7 are probably rhetorical, indicating the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance and his own vindication as if they were occurring or had already occurred.

³ tn Heb “and on my enemies my eyes look.”