19:14 May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable in your sight, 1
O Lord, my sheltering rock 2 and my redeemer. 3
55:13 But it is you, 4 a man like me, 5
my close friend in whom I confided. 6
94:22 But the Lord will protect me, 7
and my God will shelter me. 8
38:11 Because of my condition, 9 even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; 10
my neighbors stand far away. 11
73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, 12
but God always 13 protects my heart and gives me stability. 14
1 tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”
2 tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”
3 tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.
4 sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.
5 tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.”
6 tn Heb “my close friend, one known by me.”
7 tn Heb “and the
8 tn Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”
10 tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”
11 tn Heb “stand [aloof].”
12 tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”
13 tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).
14 tn Or “forever.”
15 tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the