Psalms 17:1

Psalm 17 ¹ 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ² 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ³ 

Psalms 43:1

Psalm 43 ⁴ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ⁵  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ⁶  from deceitful and evil men! ⁷ 

Psalms 109:2

109:2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;

they lie to me. ⁸ 

¹ 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.

² tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

³ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

⁴ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

⁵ tn Or “argue my case.”

⁶ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

⁷ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

⁷ tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”