Psalms 28:1

Psalm 28 ¹ 

By David.

28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!

My protector, ²  do not ignore me! ³ 

If you do not respond to me, ⁴ 

I will join ⁵  those who are descending into the grave. ⁶ 

Psalms 35:22

35:22 But you take notice, ⁷  Lord!

O Lord, do not remain far away from me!

Psalms 44:23

44:23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?

Wake up! ⁸  Do not reject us forever!

Psalms 50:3

50:3 Our God approaches and is not silent; ⁹ 

consuming fire goes ahead of him

and all around him a storm rages. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 109:1-2

Psalm 109 ¹¹ 

For the music director, a psalm of David.

109:1 O God whom I praise, do not ignore me! ¹² 

109:2 For they say cruel and deceptive things to me;

they lie to me. ¹³ 

[28:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.

[28:1]  ² tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[28:1]  ³ tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”

[28:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”

[28:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[28:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[35:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “you see, O Lord.” There is a deliberate play on words. In v. 21 the enemies say, “our eye sees,” but the psalmist is confident that the Lord “sees” as well, so he appeals to him for help (see also v. 17).

[44:23]  ⁸ sn Wake up! See Ps 35:23.

[50:3]  ⁹ tn According to GKC 322 §109.e, the jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al) is used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.”

[50:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fire before him devours, and around him it is very stormy.”

[109:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 109. Appealing to God’s justice, the psalmist asks God to vindicate him and to bring severe judgment down upon his enemies.

[109:1]  ¹² tn Heb “do not be deaf.”

[109:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “for a mouth of evil and a mouth of deceit against me they open, they speak with me [with] a tongue of falsehood.”