27:11 Teach me how you want me to live; 1
lead me along a level path 2 because of those who wait to ambush me! 3
54:5 May those who wait to ambush me 4 be repaid for their evil! 5
As a demonstration of your faithfulness, 6 destroy them!
59:10 The God who loves me will help me; 7
God will enable me to triumph over 8 my enemies. 9
59:2 Deliver me from evildoers! 10
Rescue me from violent men! 11
For the music director; according to the sheminith style; 13 a psalm of David.
12:1 Deliver, Lord!
For the godly 14 have disappeared; 15
people of integrity 16 have vanished. 17
1 tn Heb “teach me your way.” The
2 sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).
3 tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.
4 tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 56:2.
5 tn The Kethib (consonantal text) reads a Qal imperfect, “the evil will return,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Hiphil imperfect, “he will repay.” The parallel line has an imperative (indicating a prayer/request), so it is best to read a jussive form יָשֹׁב (yashov, “let it [the evil] return”) here.
6 tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”
7 tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”
8 tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”
9 tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.
10 tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”
11 tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”
12 sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.
13 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.
14 tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
15 tn Or “have come to an end.”
16 tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”
17 tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”