Psalms 27:4

27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –

this is what I desire!

I want to live ¹  in the Lord’s house ²  all the days of my life,

so I can gaze at the splendor ³  of the Lord

and contemplate in his temple.

Psalms 54:3

54:3 For foreigners ⁴  attack me; ⁵ 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ⁶  (Selah)

Psalms 69:6

69:6 Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me,

O sovereign Lord and king! ⁷ 

Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me,

O God of Israel!

¹ tn Heb “my living.”

² sn The Lord’s house. This probably refers to the tabernacle (if one accepts Davidic authorship) or the temple (see Judg 19:18; 1 Sam 1:7, 24; 2 Sam 12:20; 1 Kgs 7:12, 40, 45, 51).

³ tn Or “beauty.”

⁴ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

⁵ tn Heb “rise against me.”

⁶ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

⁷ tn Heb “O Master, Lord of hosts.” Both titles draw attention to God’s sovereign position.