1 Kings 8:28-30

8:28 But respond favorably to ¹  your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer ²  the desperate prayer ³  your servant is presenting to you ⁴  today. 8:29 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. ⁵  May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. ⁶  8:30 Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. ⁷  Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place ⁸  and respond favorably. ⁹ 

Ezra 9:5

9:5 At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, ¹⁰  with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God.

Psalms 74:10-11

74:10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?

Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?

74:11 Why do you remain inactive?

Intervene and destroy him! ¹¹ 

Psalms 91:1-2

Psalm 91 ¹² 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ¹³  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ¹⁴ 

and resides in the protective shadow ¹⁵  of the mighty king ¹⁶  –

91:2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,

my God in whom I trust –

Psalms 123:1-4

Psalm 123 ¹⁷ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁸ 

123:1 I look up ¹⁹  toward you,

the one enthroned ²⁰  in heaven.

123:2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, ²¹ 

so my eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.

123:3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!

For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. ²² 

123:4 We have had our fill ²³ 

of the taunts of the self-assured,

of the contempt of the proud.

[8:28]  ¹ tn Heb “turn to.”

[8:28]  ² tn Heb “by listening to.”

[8:28]  ³ tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”

[8:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “praying before you.”

[8:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”

[8:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”

[8:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”

[8:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “and you, hear inside your dwelling place, inside heaven.” The precise nuance of the preposition אֶל (’el), used here with the verb “hear,” is unclear. One expects the preposition “from,” which appears in the parallel text in 2 Chr 6:21. The nuance “inside; among” is attested for אֶל (see Gen 23:19; 1 Sam 10:22; Jer 4:3), but in each case a verb of motion is employed with the preposition, unlike 1 Kgs 8:30. The translation above (“from inside”) is based on the demands of the immediate context rather than attested usage elsewhere.

[8:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “hear and forgive.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word used here is a hapax legomenon. It refers to the self-abasement that accompanies religious sorrow and fasting.

[74:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.

[91:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ¹⁵ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ¹⁶ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[123:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.

[123:1]  ¹⁸ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[123:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”

[123:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12).

[123:2]  ²¹ sn Servants look to their master for food, shelter, and other basic needs.

[123:3]  ²² tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”

[123:4]  ²³ tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”