Psalms 119:115-117

Context

119:115 Turn away from me, you evil men,

so that I can observe¹ the commands of my God.²

119:116 Sustain me as you promised,³ so that I will live.⁴

Do not disappoint me!⁵

119:117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.

Then I will focus⁶ on your statutes continually.

[119:115] ¹tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:115] ²tn The psalmist has already declared that he observes God’s commands despite persecution, so here the idea must be “so that I might observe the commands of my God unhindered by threats.”

[119:116] ³tn Heb “according to your word.”

[119:116] ⁴tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:116] ⁵tn Heb “do not make me ashamed of my hope.” After the Hebrew verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “to be ashamed”) the preposition מִן (min, “from”) often introduces the reason for shame.

[119:117] ⁶tn Or “and that I might focus.” The two cohortatives with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the imperative at the beginning of the verse.