Psalms 12:3

12:3 May the Lord cut off ¹  all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts! ² 

Psalms 17:1

Psalm 17 ³ 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ⁴ 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ⁵ 

Psalms 31:18

31:18 May lying lips be silenced –

lips ⁶  that speak defiantly against the innocent ⁷ 

with arrogance and contempt!

Psalms 40:9

40:9 I have told the great assembly ⁸  about your justice. ⁹ 

Look! I spare no words! ¹⁰ 

O Lord, you know this is true.

[12:3]  ¹ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

[12:3]  ² tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”

[17:1]  ³ sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.

[17:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

[17:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the [ones which].”

[31:18]  ⁶ tn Or “godly.”

[40:9]  ⁷ sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.

[40:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the Lord’s just acts are in view (see v. 10). His “justice” (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) is here the deliverance that originates in his justice; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just.

[40:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”