Psalms 18:40-41

18:40 You make my enemies retreat;

I destroy those who hate me.

18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them;

they cry out to the Lord, but he does not answer them.

Psalms 22:11

22:11 Do not remain far away from me,

for trouble is near and I have no one to help me.

Psalms 142:4

142:4 Look to the right and see!

No one cares about me.

I have nowhere to run;

no one is concerned about my life.

Psalms 142:2

142:2 I pour out my lament before him;

I tell him about my troubles.

Psalms 6:1

Psalm 6 10 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; 11  a psalm of David.

6:1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!

Do not discipline me in your raging fury! 12 

Psalms 6:1

Psalm 6 13 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; 14  a psalm of David.

6:1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!

Do not discipline me in your raging fury! 15 

Psalms 6:1

Psalm 6 16 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; 17  a psalm of David.

6:1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!

Do not discipline me in your raging fury! 18 

Job 9:13

9:13 God does not restrain his anger; 19 

under him the helpers of Rahab 20  lie crushed. 21 

Isaiah 63:5

63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help;

I was shocked because there was no one offering support. 22 

So my right arm accomplished deliverance;

my raging anger drove me on. 23 


tn Heb “and [as for] my enemies, you give to me [the] back [or “neck”].” The idiom “give [the] back” means “to cause [one] to turn the back and run away.” Cf. Exod 23:27.

sn Those who hate me. See v. 17, where it is the Lord who delivered the psalmist from those who hated him.

tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

tn Heb “to the Lord.” The words “they cry out” are supplied in the translation because they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

tn Heb “and there is no helper.”

tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”

tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”

tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”

tn Heb “my trouble before him I declare.”

10 sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.

11 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

12 sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).

13 sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.

14 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

15 sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).

16 sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.

17 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

18 sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).

19 sn The meaning of the line is that God’s anger will continue until it has accomplished its purpose (23:13-14).

20 sn “Rahab” is not to be confused with the harlot of the same name from Jericho. “Rahab” is identified with Tiamat of the Babylonian creation epic, or Leviathan of the Canaanite myths. It is also used in parallelism to the sea (26:12), or the Red Sea (Ps 74:13), and so comes to symbolize Egypt (Isa 30:7). In the Babylonian Creation Epic there is reference to the helpers of Tiamat. In the Bible the reference is only to the raging sea, which the Lord controlled at creation.

21 tn The verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) means “to be prostrate” or “to crouch.” Here the enemies are prostrate under the feet of God – they are crushed.

22 sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.

23 tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”