Psalms 34:5-6

34:5 Those who look to him for help are happy;

their faces are not ashamed. ¹ 

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ²  from all his troubles.

Psalms 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! ³ 

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” ⁴ 

Psalms 60:10-12

60:10 Have you not rejected us, O God?

O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.

60:11 Give us help against the enemy,

for any help men might offer is futile. ⁵ 

60:12 By God’s power we will conquer; ⁶ 

he will trample down ⁷  our enemies.

¹ tc Heb “they look to him and are radiant and their faces are not ashamed.” The third person plural subject (“they”) is unidentified; there is no antecedent in the Hebrew text. For this reason some prefer to take the perfect verbal forms in the first line as imperatives, “look to him and be radiant” (cf. NEB, NRSV). Some medieval Hebrew mss and other ancient witnesses (Aquila, the Syriac, and Jerome) support an imperatival reading for the first verb. In the second line some (with support from the LXX and Syriac) change “their faces” to “your faces,” which allows one to retain more easily the jussive force of the verb (suggested by the preceding אַל [’al]): “do not let your faces be ashamed.” It is probable that the verbal construction in the second line is rhetorical, expressing the conviction that the action in view cannot or should not happen. See GKC 322 §109.e.

² tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

³ tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

⁴ sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.

⁵ tn Heb “and futile [is] the deliverance of man.”

⁶ tn Heb “in God we will accomplish strength.” The statement refers here to military success (see Num 24:18; 1 Sam 14:48; Pss 108:13; 118:15-16).

⁷ sn Trample down. On this expression see Ps 44:5.