By David.
25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. 2
94:19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me, 3
your soothing touch makes me happy. 4
ד (Dalet)
119:25 I collapse in the dirt. 5
Revive me with your word! 6
119:28 I collapse 7 from grief.
Sustain me by your word! 8
כ (Kaf)
119:81 I desperately long for 9 your deliverance.
I find hope in your word.
119:109 My life is in continual danger, 10
but I do not forget your law.
פ (Pe)
119:129 Your rules are marvelous.
Therefore I observe them.
119:167 I keep your rules;
I love them greatly.
119:175 May I 11 live and praise you!
May your regulations help me! 12
130:5 I rely on 13 the Lord,
I rely on him with my whole being; 14
I wait for his assuring word. 15
130:6 I yearn for the Lord, 16
more than watchmen do for the morning,
yes, more than watchmen do for the morning. 17
146:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
1 sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.
2 tn Heb “to you, O
3 tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”
4 tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”
5 tn Heb “my soul clings to the dirt.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
6 tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
7 tn Some translate “my soul weeps,” taking the verb דָלַף (dalaf) from a root meaning “to drip; to drop” (BDB 196 s.v. דֶּלַף). On the basis of cognate evidence from Arabic and Akkadian, HALOT 223 s.v. II דלף proposes a homonymic root here, meaning “be sleepless.” Following L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 127, 135) the translation assumes that the verb is cognate with Ugaritic dlp, “to collapse; to crumple” in CTA 2 iv. 17, 26. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 44, 144.
8 tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
9 tn Heb “my soul pines for.” See Ps 84:2.
11 tn Heb “my life [is] in my hands continually.”
13 tn Heb “my life.”
14 tn God’s regulations will “help” the psalmist by giving him moral and ethical guidance.
15 tn Or “wait for.”
16 tn Heb “my soul waits.”
17 tn Heb “his word.”
17 tn Heb “my soul for the master.”
18 tn Heb “more than watchmen for the morning, watchmen for the morning.” The words “yes, more” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
19 sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the