Psalms 119:21

119:21 You reprimand arrogant people.

Those who stray from your commands are doomed. ¹ 

Psalms 119:118

119:118 You despise ²  all who stray from your statutes,

for they are deceptive and unreliable. ³ 

Psalms 119:133

119:133 Direct my steps by your word! ⁴ 

Do not let any sin dominate me!

Psalms 119:176

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ⁵ 

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

[119:21]  ¹ tn Heb “accursed.” The traditional punctuation of the Hebrew text takes “accursed” with the previous line (“arrogant, accursed ones”), but it is preferable to take it with the second line as the predicate of the statement.

[119:118]  ² tn The Hebrew verb סָלָה (salah, “to disdain”) occurs only here and in Lam 1:15. Cognate usage in Aramaic and Akkadian, as well as Lam 1:15, suggest it may have a concrete nuance of “to throw away.”

[119:118]  ³ tn Heb “for their deceit [is] falsehood.”

[119:133]  ⁴ tn God’s “word” refers here to his law (see v. 11).

[119:176]  ⁵ tn 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).