Psalms 119:170-176

Context

119:170 Listen to my appeal for mercy!¹

Deliver me, as you promised.²

119:171 May praise flow freely from my lips,

for you teach me your statutes.

119:172 May my tongue sing about your instructions,³

for all your commands are just.

119:173 May your hand help me,

for I choose to obey⁴ your precepts.

119:174 I long for your deliverance, O Lord;

I find delight in your law.

119:175 May I⁵ live and praise you!

May your regulations help me!⁶

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep.⁷

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

[119:170] ¹tn Heb “may my appeal for mercy come before you.”

[119:170] ²tn Heb “according to your speech.”

[119:172] ³tn Heb “your word.”

[119:173] ⁴tn The words “to obey” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[119:175] ⁵tn Heb “my life.”

[119:175] ⁶tn God’s regulations will “help” the psalmist by giving him moral and ethical guidance.

[119:176] ⁷tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).