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
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.
77:1 I will cry out to God 4 and call for help!
I will cry out to God and he will pay attention 5 to me.
For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 7 a psalm of Asaph.
80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!
You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, 8 reveal your splendor! 9
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 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.
4 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.
5 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).
5 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
6 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
7 sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
8 tn Heb “shine forth.”