54:4 Look, God is my deliverer! 1
The Lord is among those who support me. 2
55:18 He will rescue 3 me and protect me from those who attack me, 4
even though 5 they greatly outnumber me. 6
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song 8 by David.
55:1 Listen, O God, to my prayer!
Do not ignore 9 my appeal for mercy!
For the music director; according to the sheminith style; 11 a psalm of David.
12:1 Deliver, Lord!
For the godly 12 have disappeared; 13
people of integrity 14 have vanished. 15
1 tn Or “my helper.”
2 tn Or “sustain my life.”
3 tn The perfect verbal form is here used rhetorically to indicate that the action is certain to take place (the so-called perfect of certitude).
4 tn Heb “he will redeem in peace my life from [those who] draw near to me.”
5 tn Or “for.”
6 tn Heb “among many they are against me.” For other examples of the preposition עִמָּד (’immad) used in the sense of “at, against,” see HALOT 842 s.v.; BDB 767 s.v.; IBHS 219 §11.2.14b.
7 sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies.
8 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.
9 tn Heb “hide yourself from.”
10 sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.
11 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.
12 tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
13 tn Or “have come to an end.”
14 tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”
15 tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”