Psalms 94:18-23

94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”

your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.

94:19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me,

your soothing touch makes me happy.

94:20 Cruel rulers are not your allies,

those who make oppressive laws.

94:21 They conspire against the blameless,

and condemn to death the innocent.

94:22 But the Lord will protect me,

and my God will shelter me.

94:23 He will pay them back for their sin. 10 

He will destroy them because of 11  their evil;

the Lord our God will destroy them.


tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”

tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”

tn Heb “a throne of destruction.” “Throne” stands here by metonymy for rulers who occupy thrones.

tn Heb “Is a throne of destruction united to you, one that forms trouble upon a statute?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course not!” The translation, while not preserving the interrogative form of the statement, reflects its rhetorical force.

tn Or “attack.”

tn Heb “the life of the blameless.”

tn Heb “and the blood of the innocent they declare guilty.”

tn Heb “and the Lord has become my elevated place.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

tn Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”

10 tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

11 tn Or “in.”