Psalms 43:1

Psalm 43 ¹ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ²  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ³  from deceitful and evil men! ⁴ 

Psalms 59:1-3

Psalm 59 ⁵ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ⁶  a prayer ⁷  of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. ⁸ 

59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!

Protect me ⁹  from those who attack me! ¹⁰ 

59:2 Deliver me from evildoers! ¹¹ 

Rescue me from violent men! ¹² 

59:3 For look, they wait to ambush me; ¹³ 

powerful men stalk ¹⁴  me,

but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 71:4

71:4 My God, rescue me from the power ¹⁶  of the wicked,

from the hand of the cruel oppressor!

¹ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

² tn Or “argue my case.”

³ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

⁴ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

⁵ sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.

⁶ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.

⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

⁸ tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”

⁹ tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”

¹¹ tn Heb “from the workers of wickedness.”

¹² tn Heb “from men of bloodshed.”

¹³ tn Heb “my life.”

¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb is from the root גּוּר (gur), which means “to challenge, attack” in Isa 54:15 and “to stalk” (with hostile intent) in Ps 56:8.

¹⁵ sn The point is that the psalmist’s enemies have no justifiable reason for attacking him. He has neither rebelled or sinned against the Lord.

¹⁶ tn Heb “hand.”