Isaiah 32:18

32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,

in secure homes,

and in safe, quiet places. ¹ 

Psalms 15:1

Psalm 15 ² 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ³ 

Who may live on your holy hill? ⁴ 

Psalms 90:1

Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90 ⁵ 

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90:1 O Lord, you have been our protector ⁶  through all generations!

Psalms 91:1-10

Psalm 91 ⁷ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ⁸  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ⁹ 

and resides in the protective shadow ¹⁰  of the mighty king ¹¹  –

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

my God in whom I trust –

91:3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter ¹² 

and from the destructive plague.

91:4 He will shelter you ¹³  with his wings; ¹⁴ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ¹⁵ 

91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, ¹⁶ 

the arrow that flies by day,

91:6 the plague that comes in the darkness,

or the disease that comes at noon. ¹⁷ 

91:7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,

and a multitude on your right side,

it ¹⁸  will not reach you.

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ¹⁹ 

91:9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,

my shelter, the sovereign One. ²⁰ 

91:10 No harm will overtake ²¹  you;

no illness ²²  will come near your home. ²³ 

Psalms 91:14

91:14 The Lord says, ²⁴ 

“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;

I will protect him ²⁵  because he is loyal to me. ²⁶ 

Psalms 107:41

107:41 Yet he protected ²⁷  the needy from oppression,

and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.

Proverbs 1:33

1:33 But the one who listens ²⁸  to me will live in security, ²⁹ 

and will be at ease ³⁰  from the dread of harm.

Proverbs 18:10

18:10 The name of the Lord ³¹  is like ³²  a strong tower; ³³ 

the righteous person runs ³⁴  to it and is set safely on high. ³⁵ 

Habakkuk 3:19

3:19 The sovereign Lord is my source of strength. ³⁶ 

He gives me the agility of a deer; ³⁷ 

he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. ³⁸ 

(This prayer is for the song leader. It is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.) ³⁹ 

[32:18]  ¹ tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”

[15:1]  ² sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ³ tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ⁴ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[90:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.

[90:1]  ⁶ tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.

[91:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ⁹ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ¹⁰ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ¹¹ 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.

[91:3]  ¹² tn The word refers specifically to a fowler (or hunter of birds).

[91:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).

[91:4]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”

[91:5]  ¹⁶ tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).

[91:6]  ¹⁷ sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.

[91:7]  ¹⁸ tn Apparently the deadly disease mentioned in v. 6b is the understood subject here.

[91:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[91:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for you, the Lord, my shelter, the Most High, you have made your dwelling place.”

[91:10]  ²¹ tn Or “confront.”

[91:10]  ²² tn For this sense of the Hebrew term נגע see Ps 38:11.

[91:10]  ²³ tn Heb “your tent.”

[91:14]  ²⁴ tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the words which follow are the Lord’s oracle of assurance.

[91:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).

[91:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).

[107:41]  ²⁷ tn Heb “set on high.”

[1:33]  ²⁸ tn The participle is used substantivally here: “whoever listens” will enjoy the benefits of the instruction.

[1:33]  ²⁹ tn The noun בֶּטַח (betakh, “security”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner: “in security.” The phrase refers to living in a permanent settled condition without fear of danger (e.g., Deut 33:12; Ps 16:9). It is the antithesis of the dread of disaster facing the fool and the simple.

[1:33]  ³⁰ tn The verb שַׁאֲנַן (sha’anan) is a Palel perfect of שָׁאַן (sha’an) which means “to be at ease; to rest securely” (BDB 983 s.v. שָׁאַן). Elsewhere it parallels the verb “to be undisturbed” (Jer 30:10), so it means “to rest undisturbed and quiet.” The reduplicated Palel stem stresses the intensity of the idea. The perfect tense functions in the so-called “prophetic perfect” sense, emphasizing the certainty of this blessing for the wise.

[18:10]  ³¹ sn The “name of the Lord” is a metonymy of subject. The “name” here signifies not the personal name “Yahweh,” for that would be redundant in the expression “the name of Yahweh,” but the attributes of the Lord (cf. Exod 34:5-7) – here his power to protect.

[18:10]  ³² tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:10]  ³³ tn Heb “a tower of strength,” with “strength” regarded as attributive by most English versions. The metaphor “strong tower” indicates that God is a secure refuge. The figure is qualified in the second colon.

[18:10]  ³⁴ sn The metaphor of “running” to the Lord refers to a whole-hearted and unwavering trust in God’s protection (e.g., Isa 40:31).

[18:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “is high” or “is inaccessible.” This military-type expression stresses the effect of the trust – security, being out of danger (see HALOT 1305 s.v. שׂגב). Other scriptures will supply the ways that God actually protects people who trust him.

[3:19]  ³⁶ tn Or perhaps, “is my wall,” that is, “my protector.”

[3:19]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he makes my feet like those of deer.”

[3:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he makes me walk on my high places.”

[3:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “For the leader, on my stringed instruments.”