144:10 the one who delivers 1 kings,
and rescued David his servant from a deadly 2 sword.
By David.
144:1 The Lord, my protector, 4 deserves praise 5 –
the one who trains my hands for battle, 6
and my fingers for war,
A prayer of David.
17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! 8
Pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer! 9
A prayer of David.
17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! 11
Pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer! 12
A prayer of David.
17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! 14
Pay attention to my cry for help!
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer! 15
17:2 Make a just decision on my behalf! 16
Decide what is right! 17
8:6 you appoint them to rule over your creation; 18
you have placed 19 everything under their authority, 20
For the music director, according to the gittith style; 22 a psalm of David.
8:1 O Lord, our Lord, 23
how magnificent 24 is your reputation 25 throughout the earth!
You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! 26
1 tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”
2 tn Heb “harmful.”
3 sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.
4 tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The
5 tn Heb “blessed [be] the
6 sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.
7 sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.
8 tn Heb “hear,
9 tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”
10 sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.
11 tn Heb “hear,
12 tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”
13 sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.
14 tn Heb “hear,
15 tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”
16 tn Heb “From before you may my justice come out.” The prefixed verbal form יָצָא (yatsa’) could be taken as an imperfect, but following the imperatives in v. 1, it is better understood as a jussive of prayer.
17 tn Heb “May your eyes look at what is right.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as jussive. (See also the preceding note on the word “behalf.”)
18 tn Heb “you cause [i.e., “permit, allow”] him to rule over the works of your hands.”
19 tn The perfect verbal form probably has a present perfect nuance here. It refers to the continuing effects of God’s original mandate (see Gen 1:26-30).
20 tn Heb “under his feet.”
21 sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.
22 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.
23 tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the
24 tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”
25 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
26 tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.