10:17 Lord, you have heard 1 the request 2 of the oppressed;
you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. 3
27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –
this is what I desire!
I want to live 4 in the Lord’s house 5 all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor 6 of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
37:4 Then you will take delight in the Lord, 7
and he will answer your prayers. 8
39:7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?
You are my only hope! 9
39:8 Deliver me from all my sins of rebellion!
Do not make me the object of fools’ insults!
119:5 If only I were predisposed 10
to keep your statutes!
119:10 With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands!
26:9 I 11 look for 12 you during the night,
my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,
for when your judgments come upon the earth,
those who live in the world learn about justice. 13
17:16 But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. 14
I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. 15
You know that.
You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken. 16
5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger 17 and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
1 sn You have heard. The psalmist is confident that God has responded positively to his earlier petitions for divine intervention. The psalmist apparently prayed the words of vv. 16-18 after the reception of an oracle of deliverance (given in response to the confident petition of vv. 12-15) or after the Lord actually delivered him from his enemies.
2 tn Heb “desire.”
3 tn Heb “you make firm their heart, you cause your ear to listen.”
4 tn Heb “my living.”
5 sn The
6 tn Or “beauty.”
7 tn Following the imperatives of v. 3 the prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) in v. 4 indicate result. Faith and obedience (v. 3) will bring divine blessing (v. 4).
8 tn Or “and he will give you what you desire most.” Heb “and he will grant to you the requests of your heart.”
9 tn Heb “my hope, for you it [is].”
10 tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”
11 tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).
12 tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).
13 tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).
14 tc Heb “I have not run after you for the sake of disaster.” The translation follows the suggestion of some ancient versions. The Hebrew text reads “I have not run from being a shepherd after you.” The translation follows two Greek versions (Aquila and Symmachus) and the Syriac in reading the word “evil” or “disaster” here in place of the word “shepherd” in the Hebrew text. The issue is mainly one of vocalization. The versions mentioned are reading a form מֵרָעָה (mera’ah) instead of מֵרֹעֶה (mero’eh). There does not appear to be any clear case of a prophet being called a shepherd, especially in Jeremiah where it is invariably used of the wicked leaders/rulers of Judah, the leaders/rulers of the enemy that he brings to punish them, or the righteous ruler that he will bring in the future. Moreover, there are no cases where the preposition “after” is used with the verb “shepherd.” Parallelism also argues for the appropriateness of this reading; “disaster” parallels the “incurable day.” The thought also parallels the argument thus far. Other than 11:20; 12:3; 15:15 where he has prayed for vindication by the
15 tn Heb “the incurable day.” For the use of this word see the note on 17:9.
16 tn Heb “that which goes out of my lip is right in front of your face.”
17 sn Those who hunger are people like the poor Jesus has already mentioned. The term has OT roots both in conjunction with the poor (Isa 32:6-7; 58:6-7, 9-10; Ezek 18:7, 16) or by itself (Ps 37:16-19; 107:9).