Psalms 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble!

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!”

Psalms 73:28

73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need.

I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,

as I declare all the things you have done.

Psalms 91:15

91:15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.

I will be with him when he is in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him honor.

Psalms 109:4

109:4 They repay my love with accusations,

but I continue to pray.

Luke 6:11-12

6:11 But they were filled with mindless rage and began debating with one another what they would do to Jesus.

Choosing the Twelve Apostles

6:12 Now it was during this time that Jesus 10  went out to the mountain 11  to pray, and he spent all night 12  in prayer to God. 13 


tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.

tn Heb “but as for me, the nearness of God for me [is] good.”

tn The infinitive construct with -לְ (lÿ) is understood here as indicating an attendant circumstance. Another option is to take it as indicating purpose (“so that I might declare”) or result (“with the result that I declare”).

tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”

tn Heb “and I, prayer.”

tn The term ἄνοια (anoia) denotes a kind of insane or mindless fury; the opponents were beside themselves with rage. They could not rejoice in the healing, but could only react against Jesus.

tn The use of the optative (ποιήσαιεν, poihsaien, “might do”) in an indirect question indicates that the formal opposition and planning of Jesus’ enemies started here (BDF §§385.1; 386.1).

tn Grk “Now it happened that in.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

11 tn Or “to a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

12 sn This is the only time all night prayer is mentioned in the NT.

13 tn This is an objective genitive, so prayer “to God.”