Psalms 144:7-8

144:7 Reach down ¹  from above!

Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, ² 

from the power of foreigners, ³ 

144:8 who speak lies,

and make false promises. ⁴ 

Psalms 144:2

144:2 who loves me ⁵  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ⁶  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ⁷ 

Psalms 10:6

10:6 He says to himself, ⁸ 

“I will never ⁹  be upended,

because I experience no calamity.” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 16:5

16:5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; ¹¹ 

you make my future secure. ¹² 

Psalms 17:1-14

Psalm 17 ¹³ 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ¹⁴ 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ¹⁵ 

17:2 Make a just decision on my behalf! ¹⁶ 

Decide what is right! ¹⁷ 

17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; ¹⁸ 

you have examined me during the night. ¹⁹ 

You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.

I am determined I will say nothing sinful. ²⁰ 

17:4 As for the actions of people ²¹  –

just as you have commanded,

I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. ²² 

17:5 I carefully obey your commands; ²³ 

I do not deviate from them. ²⁴ 

17:6 I call to you for you will answer me, O God.

Listen to me! ²⁵ 

Hear what I say! ²⁶ 

17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, ²⁷ 

you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. ²⁸ 

17:8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! ²⁹ 

Hide me in the shadow of your wings! ³⁰ 

17:9 Protect me from ³¹  the wicked men who attack ³²  me,

my enemies who crowd around me for the kill. ³³ 

17:10 They are calloused; ³⁴ 

they speak arrogantly. ³⁵ 

17:11 They attack me, now they surround me; ³⁶ 

they intend to throw me to the ground. ³⁷ 

17:12 He ³⁸  is like a lion ³⁹  that wants to tear its prey to bits, ⁴⁰ 

like a young lion crouching ⁴¹  in hidden places.

17:13 Rise up, Lord!

Confront him! ⁴²  Knock him down! ⁴³ 

Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! ⁴⁴ 

17:14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers, ⁴⁵ 

from the murderers of this world! ⁴⁶ 

They enjoy prosperity; ⁴⁷ 

you overwhelm them with the riches they desire. ⁴⁸ 

They have many children,

and leave their wealth to their offspring. ⁴⁹ 

[144:7]  ¹ tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”

[144:7]  ² tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).

[144:7]  ³ tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”

[144:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” The reference to the “right hand” is probably a metonymy for an oath. When making an oath, one would raise the hand as a solemn gesture. See Exod 6:8; Num 14:30; Deut 32:40. The figure thus represents the making of false oaths (false promises).

[144:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).

[144:2]  ⁶ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”

[10:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “he says in his heart/mind.”

[10:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.” The traditional accentuation of the MT understands these words with the following line.

[10:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who, not in calamity.” If אֲשֶׁר (’asher) is taken as a relative pronoun here, then one could translate, “[I] who [am] not in calamity.” Some emend אֲשֶׁר to אֹשֶׁר (’osher, “happiness”; see HALOT 99 s.v. אֹשֶׁר); one might then translate, “[I live in] happiness, not in calamity.” The present translation assumes that אֲשֶׁר functions here as a causal conjunction, “because, for.” For this use of אֲשֶׁר, see BDB 83 s.v. אֲשֶׁר 8.c (where the present text is not cited).

[16:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O Lord, the portion of my possession and my cup”; or “the Lord [is] the portion of my possession and my cup.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel, and to a cup of wine, which may symbolize a reward (in Ps 11:6 it symbolizes the judgment one deserves) or divine blessing (see Ps 23:5). The metaphor highlights the fact that God is the psalmist’s source of security and prosperity.

[16:5]  ¹² tc Heb “you take hold of my lot.” The form תּוֹמִיךְ (tomikh) should be emended to a participle, תוֹמֵךְ (tomekh). The psalmist pictures the Lord as casting his lot (a method used to allot landed property) for him, thus assuring that he will receive a fertile piece of land (see v. 6). As in the previous line, land represents security and economic stability, thus “you make my future secure.”

[17:1]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

[17:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

[17:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “From before you may my justice come out.” The prefixed verbal form יָצָא (yatsa’) could be taken as an imperfect, but following the imperatives in v. 1, it is better understood as a jussive of prayer.

[17:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “May your eyes look at what is right.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as jussive. (See also the preceding note on the word “behalf.”)

[17:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you tested my heart.”

[17:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”

[17:3]  ²⁰ tc Heb “you tested me, you do not find, I plan, my mouth will not cross over.” The Hebrew verbal form זַמֹּתִי (zammotiy) is a Qal perfect, first person singular from the root זָמַם (zamam, “plan, plan evil”). Some emend the form to a suffixed form of the noun, זִמָּתִי (zimmatiy, “my plan/evil plan”), and take it as the object of the preceding verb “find.” However, the suffix seems odd, since the psalmist is denying that he has any wrong thoughts. If one takes the form with what precedes, it might make better sense to read זִמּוֹת (zimmot, “evil plans”). However, this emendation leaves an unclear connection with the next line. The present translation maintains the verbal form found in the MT and understands it in a neutral sense, “I have decided” (see Jer 4:28). The words “my mouth will not cross over” (i.e., “transgress, sin”) can then be taken as a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb.

[17:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”

[17:4]  ²² tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).

[17:5]  ²³ tn Heb “my steps stay firm in your tracks.” The infinitive absolute functions here as a finite verb (see GKC 347 §113.gg). God’s “tracks” are his commands, i.e., the moral pathways he has prescribed for the psalmist.

[17:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my footsteps do not stagger.”

[17:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Turn your ear toward me.”

[17:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “my word.”

[17:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”

[17:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[O] one who delivers those who seek shelter from the ones raising themselves up, by your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver.

[17:8]  ²⁹ tc Heb “Protect me like the pupil, a daughter of an eye.” The noun בַּת (bat, “daughter”) should probably be emended to בָּבַת (bavat, “pupil”). See Zech 2:12 HT (2:8 ET) and HALOT 107 s.v. *בָּבָה.

[17:8]  ³⁰ sn Your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.

[17:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “from before”; or “because.” In the Hebrew text v. 9 is subordinated to v. 8. The words “protect me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:9]  ³² tn Heb “destroy.” The psalmist uses the perfect verbal form to emphasize the degree of danger. He describes the wicked as being already in the process of destroying him.

[17:9]  ³³ tn Heb “my enemies, at the risk of life they surround me.” The Hebrew phrase בְּנֶפֶשׁ (bÿnefesh) sometimes has the nuance “at the risk of [one’s] life” (see 1 Kgs 2:23; Prov 7:23; Lam 5:9).

[17:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “their fat they close.” The Hebrew term חֵלֶב (khelev, “fat”) appears to stand by metonymy for their calloused hearts. They attack the psalmist without feeling any pity or remorse. Some propose emending the text to חֵלֶב לִבָּמוֹ (khelev libbamo, “fat of their heart[s]; cf. Ps 119:70, “their heart is insensitive like fat”). This assumes haplography of the לב (lamed-bet) consonantal sequence.

[17:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “[with] their mouth they speak with arrogance.”

[17:11]  ³⁶ tc Heb “our steps, now they surround me.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “surround me,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has “surround us,” harmonizing the pronoun to the preceding “our steps.” The first person plural pronoun does not fit the context, where the psalmist speaks as an individual. In the preceding verses the psalmist uses a first person singular verbal or pronominal form twenty times. For this reason it is preferable to emend “our steps” to אִשְּׁרוּנִי (’ishÿruni, “they attack me”) from the verbal root אָשֻׁר (’ashur, “march, stride, track”).

[17:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”

[17:12]  ³⁸ tn Here the psalmist switches to the singular pronoun; he views his enemies collectively, or singles out a representative of the group, perhaps its leader.

[17:12]  ³⁹ tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”

[17:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”

[17:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “sitting.”

[17:13]  ⁴² tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”

[17:13]  ⁴³ tn Or “bring him to his knees.”

[17:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”

[17:14]  ⁴⁵ tc Heb “from men [by] your hand, Lord.” The translation assumes an emendation (both here and in the following line) of מִמְתִים (mimtim, “from men”) to מִמְמִתִים (mimmitim, “from those who kill”). For other uses of the plural form of the Hiphil participle of מוּת (mut, “die”), see 2 Kgs 17:26 (used with lions as subject), Job 33:22 (apparently referring to the agents of death), and Jer 26:15 (used of those seeking Jeremiah’s life).

[17:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “from men, from [the] world.” On the emendation of “men” to “murderers,” see the preceding note on the word “murderers.”

[17:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “their portion, in life.”

[17:14]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and [with] your treasures you fill their belly.”

[17:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] sons and leave their abundance to their children.”