By David.
27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! 5
I fear no one! 6
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one! 7
28:1 The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, 8
but the righteous person is as confident 9 as a lion.
51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. 10
Why are you afraid of mortal men,
of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? 11
51:13 Why do you forget 12 the Lord, who made you,
who stretched out the sky 13
and founded the earth?
Why do you constantly tremble all day long 14
at the anger of the oppressor,
when he makes plans to destroy?
Where is the anger of the oppressor? 15
57:11 Whom are you worried about?
Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully
and not remember me
or think about me? 16
Because I have been silent for so long, 17
you are not afraid of me. 18
1 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
2 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
3 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
4 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
5 tn Heb “the
6 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
7 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
8 sn The line portrays the insecurity of a guilty person – he flees because he has a guilty conscience, or because he is suspicious of others around him, or because he fears judgment.
9 tn The verb בָּטַח (batakh) means “to trust; to be secure; to be confident.” Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “bold.”
10 tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.
11 tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.
12 tn Heb “and that you forget.”
13 tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
14 tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”
15 tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.
16 tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”
17 tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”
18 sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.