Psalms 11:1

Psalm 11 ¹ 

For the music director; by David.

11:1 In the Lord I have taken shelter. ² 

How can you say to me, ³ 

“Flee to a mountain like a bird! ⁴ 

Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ⁵  my stronghold, ⁶  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ⁷  I take shelter, ⁸ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁹  and my refuge. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 25:2

25:2 My God, I trust in you.

Please do not let me be humiliated;

do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!

Psalms 26:1

Psalm 26 ¹¹ 

By David.

26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have integrity, ¹² 

and I trust in the Lord without wavering.

Psalms 31:1

Psalm 31 ¹³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

31:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

Vindicate me by rescuing me! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 32:10

32:10 An evil person suffers much pain, ¹⁵ 

but the Lord’s faithfulness overwhelms the one who trusts in him. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 146:3-6

146:3 Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver! ¹⁷ 

146:4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground;

on that day their plans die. ¹⁸ 

146:5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

146:6 the one who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who remains forever faithful, ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 50:10

50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?

Who obeys ²⁰  his servant?

Whoever walks in deep darkness, ²¹ 

without light,

should trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

Isaiah 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ²² 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ²³ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 1:21

Purifying Judgment

1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city

has become a prostitute! ²⁵ 

She was once a center of ²⁶  justice,

fairness resided in her,

but now only murderers. ²⁷ 

[11:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 11. The psalmist rejects the advice to flee from his dangerous enemies. Instead he affirms his confidence in God’s just character and calls down judgment on evildoers.

[11:1]  ² tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[11:1]  ³ tn The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.

[11:1]  ⁴ tc The MT is corrupt here. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads: “flee [masculine plural!] to your [masculine plural!] mountain, bird.” The Qere (marginal reading) has “flee” in a feminine singular form, agreeing grammatically with the addressee, the feminine noun “bird.” Rather than being a second masculine plural pronominal suffix, the ending כֶם- (-khem) attached to “mountain” is better interpreted as a second feminine singular pronominal suffix followed by an enclitic mem (ם). “Bird” may be taken as vocative (“O bird”) or as an adverbial accusative of manner (“like a bird”). Either way, the psalmist’s advisers compare him to a helpless bird whose only option in the face of danger is to fly away to an inaccessible place.

[18:2]  ⁵ sn My high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[18:2]  ⁶ sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[18:2]  ⁷ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ⁸ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”

[26:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.

[26:1]  ¹² tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”

[31:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.

[31:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”

[32:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “many [are the] pains of evil [one].” The singular form is representative here; the typical evildoer, representative of the larger group of wicked people, is in view.

[32:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “but the one who trusts in the Lord, faithfulness surrounds him.”

[146:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”

[146:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.

[146:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”

[50:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[50:10]  ²¹ tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.

[50:1]  ²² sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ²³ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ²⁴ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[1:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.

[1:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “filled with.”

[1:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.