Psalms 3:1-2

Psalm 3 ¹ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ² 

3:1 Lord, how ³  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁴ 

3:2 Many say about me,

“God will not deliver him.” ⁵  (Selah) ⁶ 

Psalms 66:12

66:12 You allowed men to ride over our heads;

we passed through fire and water,

but you brought us out into a wide open place. ⁷ 

Ecclesiastes 10:7

10:7 I have seen slaves ⁸  on horseback

and princes walking on foot ⁹  like slaves.

[3:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ² sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”

[3:2]  ⁶ sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.

[66:12]  ⁷ tc The MT reads רְוָיָה (“saturation”) but this should be emended to רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah, “wide open place”; i.e., “relief”), a reading supported by several ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Jerome, Targum).

[10:7]  ⁸ tn Or “servants,” so KJV, ASV, NCV, NLT (also in the following line).

[10:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “upon the earth.”