39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!
Listen to my cry for help!
Do not ignore my sobbing! 1
For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;
I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. 2
69:6 Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me,
O sovereign Lord and king! 3
Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me,
O God of Israel!
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.
77:1 I will cry out to God 5 and call for help!
I will cry out to God and he will pay attention 6 to me.
84:2 I desperately want to be 7
in the courts of the Lord’s temple. 8
My heart and my entire being 9 shout for joy
to the living God.
A well-written song 11 by David, when he was in the cave; 12 a prayer.
142:1 To the Lord I cry out; 13
to the Lord I plead for mercy. 14
1 tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”
2 tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”
3 tn Heb “O Master,
5 sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.
6 tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.
7 tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).
7 tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”
8 tn Heb “the courts of the
9 tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.
9 sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.
10 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
11 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.
12 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the
13 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the