17:5 I carefully obey your commands; 1
I do not deviate from them. 2
17:6 I call to you for you will answer me, O God.
Listen to me! 3
Hear what I say! 4
17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, 5
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. 6
17:8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! 7
Hide me in the shadow of your wings! 8
1 tn Heb “my steps stay firm in your tracks.” The infinitive absolute functions here as a finite verb (see GKC 347 §113.gg). God’s “tracks” are his commands, i.e., the moral pathways he has prescribed for the psalmist.
2 tn Heb “my footsteps do not stagger.”
3 tn Heb “Turn your ear toward me.”
4 tn Heb “my word.”
5 tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”
6 tn Heb “[O] one who delivers those who seek shelter from the ones raising themselves up, by your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver.
7 tc Heb “Protect me like the pupil, a daughter of an eye.” The noun בַּת (bat, “daughter”) should probably be emended to בָּבַת (bavat, “pupil”). See Zech 2:12 HT (2:8 ET) and HALOT 107 s.v. *בָּבָה.
8 sn Your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.