Psalms 55:10

55:10 Day and night they walk around on its walls,

while wickedness and destruction are within it.

Psalms 69:9

69:9 Certainly zeal for your house consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you.

Psalms 72:13

72:13 He will take pity on the poor and needy;

the lives of the needy he will save.

Psalms 73:25

73:25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?

I desire no one but you on earth.

Psalms 78:27

78:27 He rained down meat on them like dust,

birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores.

Psalms 80:13

80:13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it; 10 

the insects 11  of the field feed on it.

Psalms 119:148

119:148 My eyes anticipate the nighttime hours,

so that I can meditate on your word.

Psalms 129:6

129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops

which withers before one can even pull it up, 12 

Psalms 135:6

135:6 He does whatever he pleases

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all the ocean depths.

Psalms 135:14

135:14 For the Lord vindicates 13  his people,

and has compassion on his servants. 14 

Psalms 149:5

149:5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication! 15 

Let them shout for joy upon their beds! 16 


tn Heb “day and night they surround it, upon its walls.” Personified “violence and conflict” are the likely subjects. They are compared to watchmen on the city’s walls.

sn Wickedness and destruction. These terms are also closely associated in Ps 7:14.

tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

tn Or “devotion to.”

sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”

tn The prefixed verb form is best understood as a defectively written imperfect (see Deut 7:16).

tn Heb “Who [is there] for me in heaven? And besides you I do not desire [anyone] in the earth.” The psalmist uses a merism (heaven/earth) to emphasize that God is the sole object of his desire and worship in the entire universe.

tn Heb “and like the sand of the seas winged birds.”

11 tn The Hebrew verb כִּרְסֵם (kirsem, “to eat away; to ruin”) occurs only here in the OT.

12 tn The precise referent of the Hebrew word translated “insects,” which occurs only here and in Ps 50:11, is uncertain. Aramaic, Arabic, and Akkadian cognates refer to insects, such as locusts or crickets.

13 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).

15 tn Heb “judges,” but here the idea is that the Lord “judges on behalf of” his people. The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic actions.

16 sn Verse 14 echoes Deut 32:36, where Moses affirms that God mercifully relents from fully judging his wayward people.

17 tn Heb “in glory.” Here “glory” probably refers to the “honor” that belongs to the Lord’s people as a result of their deliverance (see v. 4).

18 tn The significance of the reference to “beds” is unclear. Perhaps the point is that they should rejoice at all times, even when falling asleep or awaking.