Psalms 119:115-117

119:115 Turn away from me, you evil men,

so that I can observe ¹  the commands of my God. ² 

119:116 Sustain me as you promised, ³  so that I will live. ⁴ 

Do not disappoint me! ⁵ 

119:117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.

Then I will focus ⁶  on your statutes continually.

[119:115]  ¹ tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:115]  ² tn The psalmist has already declared that he observes God’s commands despite persecution, so here the idea must be “so that I might observe the commands of my God unhindered by threats.”

[119:116]  ³ tn Heb “according to your word.”

[119:116]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:116]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not make me ashamed of my hope.” After the Hebrew verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “to be ashamed”) the preposition מִן (min, “from”) often introduces the reason for shame.

[119:117]  ⁶ tn Or “and that I might focus.” The two cohortatives with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the imperative at the beginning of the verse.