Discovery BoxPsalms 6:1
ContextFor the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; 2 a psalm of David.
6:1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!
Do not discipline me in your raging fury! 3
Psalms 38:1
ContextA psalm of David, written to get God’s attention. 5
38:1 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger!
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury! 6
Psalms 74:1-2
ContextA well-written song 8 by Asaph.
74:1 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us? 9
Why does your anger burn 10 against the sheep of your pasture?
74:2 Remember your people 11 whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued 12 so they could be your very own nation, 13
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!
Psalms 79:5-9
Context79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? 14
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage 15 burn like fire?
79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, 16
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! 17
79:7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! 18
Quickly send your compassion our way, 19
for we are in serious trouble! 20
79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation, 21 rescue us!
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! 22
Jeremiah 10:24
Context10:24 Correct us, Lord, but only in due measure. 23
Do not punish us in anger or you will reduce us to nothing. 24
Habakkuk 3:2
Context3:2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did; 25
I am awed, 26 Lord, by what you accomplished. 27
In our time 28 repeat those deeds; 29
in our time reveal them again. 30
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy! 31
[6:1] 1 sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.
[6:1] 2 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.
[6:1] 3 sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).
[38:1] 4 sn Psalm 38. The author asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He confesses his sin and recognizes that the crisis he faces is the result of divine discipline. Yet he begs the Lord not to reject him.
[38:1] 5 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the heading of Ps 70. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).
[38:1] 6 tn The words “continue to” are supplied in the translation of both lines. The following verses make it clear that the psalmist is already experiencing divine rebuke/punishment. He asks that it might cease.
[74:1] 7 sn Psalm 74. The psalmist, who has just experienced the devastation of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586
[74:1] 8 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
[74:1] 9 sn The psalmist does not really believe God has permanently rejected his people or he would not pray as he does in this psalm. But this initial question reflects his emotional response to what he sees and is overstated for the sake of emphasis. The severity of divine judgment gives the appearance that God has permanently abandoned his people.
[74:1] 10 tn Heb “smoke.” The picture is that of a fire that continues to smolder.
[74:2] 11 tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.
[74:2] 12 tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).
[74:2] 13 tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).
[79:5] 14 tn Heb “How long, O
[79:5] 15 tn Or “jealous anger.”
[79:6] 16 tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”
[79:6] 17 sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.
[79:8] 18 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
[79:8] 19 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
[79:8] 20 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
[79:9] 21 tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.
[10:24] 23 tn Heb “with justice.”
[10:24] 24 tn The words, “to almost nothing” are not in the text. They are implicit from the general context and are supplied by almost all English versions.
[3:2] 25 tn Heb “your report,” that is, “the report concerning you.”
[3:2] 26 tn Heb “I fear.” Some prefer to read, “I saw,
[3:2] 28 tn Heb “in the midst of years.” The meaning of the phrase, which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain (cf. NIV “in our day”; NEB, NASB “in the midst of the years”).
[3:2] 29 tn Heb “revive it” (i.e., “your work”).
[3:2] 30 tn Heb “make known.” The implied object is “your deeds”; the pronoun “them,” referring to “deeds” in the previous line, was employed in the translation to avoid redundancy. The suffix on the form חַיֵּיהוּ (khayyehu, “revive it”) does double duty in the parallelism.
