Psalms 18:3

18:3 I called ¹  to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, ² 

and I was delivered from my enemies.

Psalms 30:8

30:8 To you, O Lord, I cried out;

I begged the Lord for mercy: ³ 

Psalms 55:16

55:16 As for me, I will call out to God,

and the Lord will deliver me.

Psalms 57:2

57:2 I cry out for help to the sovereign God, ⁴ 

to the God who vindicates ⁵  me.

Psalms 86:3

86:3 Have mercy on me, ⁶  O Lord,

for I cry out to you all day long!

Psalms 116:4

116:4 I called on the name of the Lord,

“Please Lord, rescue my life!”

Psalms 116:17

116:17 I will present a thank offering to you,

and call on the name of the Lord.

¹ tn In this song of thanksgiving, where the psalmist recalls how the Lord delivered him, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect.

² tn Heb “worthy of praise, I cried out [to] the Lord.” Some take מְהֻלָּל (mÿhullal, “worthy of praise”) with what precedes and translate, “the praiseworthy one,” or “praiseworthy.” However, the various epithets in vv. 1-2 have the first person pronominal suffix, unlike מְהֻלָּל. If one follows the traditional verse division and takes מְהֻלָּל with what follows, it is best understood as substantival and as appositional to יְהוָה (yÿhvah): “[to the] praiseworthy one I cried out, [to the] Lord.”

³ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 8 are probably preterites; the psalmist recalls that he prayed in his time of crisis.

⁵ tn Heb “to God Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

⁶ tn Or “avenges in favor of.”

⁷ tn Or “show me favor.”