12:2 Look, God is my deliverer! 1
I will trust in him 2 and not fear.
For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; 3
he has become my deliverer.” 4
50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys 5 his servant?
Whoever walks in deep darkness, 6
without light,
should trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God.
50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 7
Is my hand too weak 8 to deliver 9 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 10 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 11
20:1 The Lord revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it. 12
32:8 An honorable man makes honorable plans;
his honorable character gives him security. 13
55:22 Throw your burden 14 upon the Lord,
and he will sustain you. 15
He will never allow the godly to be upended. 16
62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!
Pour out your hearts before him! 17
God is our shelter! (Selah)
3:5 Trust 18 in the Lord with all your heart, 19
and do not rely 20 on your own understanding. 21
3:6 Acknowledge 22 him in all your ways, 23
and he will make your paths straight. 24
1 tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).
2 tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
3 tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.
4 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”
5 tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
6 tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.
7 sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.
8 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
9 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
10 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
11 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”
12 tn Heb “In the year the commanding general came to Ashdod, when Sargon king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and captured it.”
13 tn Heb “and he upon honorable things stands.”
14 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.
15 tn The pronoun is singular; the psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually.
16 tn Heb “he will never allow swaying for the righteous.”
17 tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).
18 sn The word בְּטַח (bÿtakh, “trust”) is used in the OT in (1) literal physical sense: to physically lean upon something for support and (2) figurative sense: to rely upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 105 s.v. I בְּטַח; HALOT 120 s.v. I בטח). The verb is often used with false securities, people trusting in things that prove to be worthless. But here the object of the secure trust is the
19 sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).
20 tn Heb “do not lean.” The verb שָׁעַן (sha’an, “to lean; to rely”) is used in (1) literal physical sense of leaning upon something for support and (2) figurative sense of relying upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 1043 s.v.). Here it functions figuratively (hypocatastasis: implied comparison); relying on one’s own understanding is compared to leaning on something that is unreliable for support (e.g., Isa 10:20).
21 tn Heb “your understanding.” The term בִּינָה (binah, “understanding”) is used elsewhere in this book of insight given by God from the instructions in Proverbs (Prov 2:3; 7:4; 8:14; 9:6, 10; 23:23). Here it refers to inherent human understanding that functions in relative ignorance unless supplemented by divine wisdom (Job 28:12-28; 39:26). The reflexive pronoun “own” is supplied in the translation to clarify this point. It is dangerous for a person to rely upon mere human wisdom (Prov 14:12; 16:25).
22 tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the
23 tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.
24 tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.