Psalms 119:29

119:29 Remove me from the path of deceit! ¹ 

Graciously give me ²  your law!

Psalms 119:58

119:58 I seek your favor ³  with all my heart.

Have mercy on me as you promised! ⁴ 

Psalms 41:10

41:10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,

so I can pay them back!” ⁵ 

Psalms 86:3

86:3 Have mercy on me, ⁶  O Lord,

for I cry out to you all day long!

Psalms 6:2

6:2 Have mercy on me, ⁷  Lord, for I am frail!

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking! ⁸ 

Psalms 31:9

31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!

My eyes grow dim ⁹  from suffering. ¹⁰ 

I have lost my strength. ¹¹ 

Psalms 41:4

41:4 As for me, I said: ¹² 

“O Lord, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

Psalms 57:1

Psalm 57 ¹³ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ¹⁴  a prayer ¹⁵  of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. ¹⁶ 

57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter. ¹⁷ 

In the shadow of your wings ¹⁸  I take shelter

until trouble passes.

Psalms 4:1

Psalm 4 ¹⁹ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ²⁰ 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ²¹ 

Have mercy on me ²²  and respond to ²³  my prayer!

Psalms 51:1

Psalm 51 ²⁴ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ²⁵ 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ²⁶  your loyal love!

Because of ²⁷  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ²⁸ 

Psalms 56:1

Psalm 56 ²⁹ 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ³⁰  a prayer ³¹  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ³² 

56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ³³ 

All day long hostile enemies ³⁴  are tormenting me. ³⁵ 

[119:29]  ¹ tn The “path of deceit” refers to a lifestyle characterized by deceit and disloyalty to God. It stands in contrast to the “way of faithfulness” in v. 30.

[119:29]  ² tn Heb “be gracious to me.” The verb is used metonymically here for “graciously giving” the law. (See Gen 33:5, where Jacob uses this verb in describing how God had graciously given him children.)

[119:58]  ³ tn Heb “I appease your face.”

[119:58]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to your word.”

[41:10]  ⁵ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.

[86:3]  ⁷ tn Or “show me favor.”

[6:2]  ⁹ tn Or “show me favor.”

[6:2]  ¹⁰ tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.

[31:9]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[31:9]  ¹² tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.

[31:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.

[41:4]  ¹³ sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.

[57:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.

[57:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.

[57:1]  ¹⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[57:1]  ¹⁸ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.

[57:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[57:1]  ²⁰ sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).

[4:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “hear.”

[51:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.

[51:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ²¹ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ²² tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ²³ tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”

[56:1]  ²¹ sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.

[56:1]  ²² tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.

[56:1]  ²³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[56:1]  ²⁴ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).

[56:1]  ²⁵ tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”

[56:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.

[56:1]  ²⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.