Psalms 116:6

116:6 The Lord protects ¹  the untrained; ² 

I was in serious trouble ³  and he delivered me.

Psalms 79:8

79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! ⁴ 

Quickly send your compassion our way, ⁵ 

for we are in serious trouble! ⁶ 

Psalms 142:6

142:6 Listen to my cry for help,

for I am in serious trouble! ⁷ 

Rescue me from those who chase me,

for they are stronger than I am.

[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.”

[79:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.

[79:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.

[79:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “for we are very low.”

[142:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “for I am very low.”