54:7 “For a short time I abandoned 1 you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
54:8 In a burst 2 of anger I rejected you 3 momentarily,
but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”
says your protector, 4 the Lord.
30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,
and his good favor restores one’s life. 5
One may experience sorrow during the night,
but joy arrives in the morning. 6
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 8 a prayer 9 of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. 10
57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!
For in you I have taken shelter. 11
In the shadow of your wings 12 I take shelter
until trouble passes.
57:2 I cry out for help to the sovereign God, 13
to the God who vindicates 14 me.
1 tn Or “forsook” (NASB).
2 tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”
3 tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”
4 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
5 tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).
6 tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.
7 sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.
8 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.
9 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
10 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.
11 tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.
12 sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).
13 tn Heb “to God Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.
14 tn Or “avenges in favor of.”