Psalms 119:5

119:5 If only I were predisposed ¹ 

to keep your statutes!

Psalms 119:32

119:32 I run along the path of your commands,

for you enable me to do so. ² 

Psalms 119:40

119:40 Look, I long for your precepts.

Revive me with your deliverance! ³ 

Psalms 119:115-117

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

so that I can observe ⁴  the commands of my God. ⁵ 

119:116 Sustain me as you promised, ⁶  so that I will live. ⁷ 

Do not disappoint me! ⁸ 

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

Then I will focus ⁹  on your statutes continually.

Psalms 119:173

119:173 May your hand help me,

for I choose to obey ¹⁰  your precepts.

Psalms 119:176

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ¹¹ 

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

[119:5]  ¹ tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”

[119:32]  ² tn Heb “for you make wide my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and understanding. The Lord gives the psalmist the desire and moral understanding that are foundational to the willing obedience depicted metaphorically in the preceding line. In Isa 60:5 the expression “your heart will be wide” means “your heart will swell with pride,” but here the nuance appears to be different.

[119:40]  ³ tn Or “righteousness.”

[119:115]  ⁴ tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:115]  ⁵ tn 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “according to your word.”

[119:116]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:116]  ⁸ tn 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]  ⁹ tn 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.

[119:173]  ¹⁰ tn The words “to obey” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[119:176]  ¹¹ 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).