Psalms 116:6

116:6 The Lord protects ¹  the untrained; ² 

I was in serious trouble ³  and he delivered me.

Psalms 34:20

34:20 He protects ⁴  all his bones; ⁵ 

not one of them is broken. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:37

37:37 Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly! ⁷ 

For the one who promotes peace has a future. ⁸ 

Psalms 97:10

97:10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!

He protects ⁹  the lives of his faithful followers;

he delivers them from the power ¹⁰  of the wicked.

Psalms 146:9

146:9 The Lord protects those residing outside their native land;

he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, ¹¹ 

but he opposes the wicked. ¹² 

[116:6]  ¹ tn Heb “guards.” The active participle indicates this is a characteristic of the Lord.

[116:6]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “I was low.”

[34:20]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew participial form suggests such protection is characteristic.

[34:20]  ⁵ tn That is, he protects the godly from physical harm.

[34:20]  ⁶ sn Not one of them is broken. The author of the Gospel of John saw a fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ experience on the cross (see John 19:31-37), for the Roman soldiers, when they saw that Jesus was already dead, did not break his legs as was customarily done to speed the death of crucified individuals. John’s use of the psalm seems strange, for the statement in its original context suggests that the Lord protects the godly from physical harm. Jesus’ legs may have remained unbroken, but he was brutally and unjustly executed by his enemies. John seems to give the statement a literal sense that is foreign to its original literary context by applying a promise of divine protection to a man who was seemingly not saved by God. However, John saw in this incident a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ultimate deliverance and vindication. His unbroken bones were a reminder of God’s commitment to the godly and a sign of things to come. Jesus’ death on the cross was not the end of the story; God vindicated him, as John goes on to explain in the following context (John 19:38-20:18).

[37:37]  ⁷ tn Or “upright.”

[37:37]  ⁸ tn Heb “for [there is] an end for a man of peace.” Some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see the next verse and Ps 109:13; cf. NEB, NRSV).

[97:10]  ¹⁰ tn The participle may be verbal, though it might also be understood as substantival and appositional to “the Lord.” In this case one could translate, “Hate evil, you who love the Lord, the one who protects the lives…and delivers them.”

[97:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[146:9]  ¹³ sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by resident aliens, the fatherless, and widows.

[146:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he makes the way of the wicked twisted.” The “way of the wicked” probably refers to their course of life (see Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1). God makes their path tortuous in the sense that he makes them pay the harmful consequences of their actions.