Psalms 10:17-18

10:17 Lord, you have heard ¹  the request ²  of the oppressed;

you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer. ³ 

10:18 You defend ⁴  the fatherless and oppressed, ⁵ 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ⁶ 

Psalms 17:6

17:6 I call to you for you will answer me, O God.

Listen to me! ⁷ 

Hear what I say! ⁸ 

Psalms 116:1-2

Psalm 116 ⁹ 

116:1 I love the Lord

because he heard my plea for mercy, ¹⁰ 

116:2 and listened to me. ¹¹ 

As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. ¹² 

[10:17]  ¹ sn You have heard. The psalmist is confident that God has responded positively to his earlier petitions for divine intervention. The psalmist apparently prayed the words of vv. 16-18 after the reception of an oracle of deliverance (given in response to the confident petition of vv. 12-15) or after the Lord actually delivered him from his enemies.

[10:17]  ² tn Heb “desire.”

[10:17]  ³ tn Heb “you make firm their heart, you cause your ear to listen.”

[10:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

[10:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

[10:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

[17:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “Turn your ear toward me.”

[17:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “my word.”

[116:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 116. The psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him from a life threatening crisis and promises to tell the entire covenant community what God has done for him.

[116:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I love because the Lord heard my voice, my pleas.” It is possible that “the Lord” originally appeared directly after “I love” and was later accidentally misplaced. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls that God heard his cry for help (note the perfect in v. 2a and the narrative in vv. 3-4).

[116:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”

[116:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”