Psalms 116:1-6

Psalm 116 ¹ 

116:1 I love the Lord

because he heard my plea for mercy, ² 

116:2 and listened to me. ³ 

As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. ⁴ 

116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, ⁵ 

the snares ⁶  of Sheol confronted me.

I was confronted ⁷  with trouble and sorrow.

116:4 I called on the name of the Lord,

“Please Lord, rescue my life!”

116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair;

our God is compassionate.

116:6 The Lord protects ⁸  the untrained; ⁹ 

I was in serious trouble ¹⁰  and he delivered me.

Psalms 144:1-2

Psalm 144 ¹¹ 

By David.

144:1 The Lord, my protector, ¹²  deserves praise ¹³  –

the one who trains my hands for battle, ¹⁴ 

and my fingers for war,

144:2 who loves me ¹⁵  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ¹⁶  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 144:1

Psalm 144 ¹⁸ 

By David.

144:1 The Lord, my protector, ¹⁹  deserves praise ²⁰  –

the one who trains my hands for battle, ²¹ 

and my fingers for war,

Psalms 4:1

Psalm 4 ²² 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ²³ 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ²⁴ 

Have mercy on me ²⁵  and respond to ²⁶  my prayer!

[116:1]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”

[116:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”

[116:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[116:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.

[116:3]  ⁷ tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.

[116:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “guards.” The active participle indicates this is a characteristic of the Lord.

[116:6]  ⁹ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Ps 19:7.

[116:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I was low.”

[144:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.

[144:1]  ¹² tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[144:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”

[144:1]  ¹⁴ sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[144:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).

[144:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”

[144:1]  ¹⁸ sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.

[144:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[144:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”

[144:1]  ²¹ sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[4:1]  ²² sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ²³ tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “hear.”