Psalms 18:1

Psalm 18 ¹ 

For the music director; by the Lord’s servant David, who sang ²  to the Lord the words of this song when ³  the Lord rescued him from the power ⁴  of all his enemies, including Saul. ⁵ 

18:1 He said: ⁶ 

“I love ⁷  you, Lord, my source of strength! ⁸ 

Psalms 21:1

Psalm 21 ⁹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

21:1 O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give; ¹⁰ 

he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide. ¹¹ 

Psalms 40:13

40:13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!

O Lord, hurry and help me! ¹² 

Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ¹³ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ¹⁴ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Psalms 69:13-18

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ¹⁵ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ¹⁶ 

69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!

Deliver me ¹⁷  from those who hate me,

from the deep water!

69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!

Don’t let the deep swallow me up!

Don’t let the pit ¹⁸  devour me! ¹⁹ 

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ²⁰ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

69:17 Do not ignore ²¹  your servant,

for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! ²² 

69:18 Come near me and redeem me! ²³ 

Because of my enemies, rescue me!

[18:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 18. In this long song of thanks, the psalmist (a Davidic king, traditionally understood as David himself) affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. The psalmist’s experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the psalm appears in 2 Sam 22:1-51.

[18:1]  ² tn Heb “spoke.”

[18:1]  ³ tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

[18:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[18:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”

[18:1]  ⁶ tn A number of translations (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) assign the words “he said” to the superscription, in which case the entire psalm is in first person. Other translations (e.g., NAB) include the introductory “he said” at the beginning of v. 1.

[18:1]  ⁷ tn The verb רָחַם (rakham) elsewhere appears in the Piel (or Pual) verbal stem with the basic meaning, “have compassion.” The verb occurs only here in the basic (Qal) stem. The basic stem of the verbal root also occurs in Aramaic with the meaning “love” (see DNWSI 2:1068-69; Jastrow 1467 s.v. רָחַם; G. Schmuttermayr, “rhm: eine lexikalische Studie,” Bib 51 [1970]: 515-21). Since this introductory statement does not appear in the parallel version in 2 Sam 22:1-51, it is possible that it is a later addition to the psalm, made when the poem was revised for use in worship.

[18:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “my strength.” “Strength” is metonymic here, referring to the Lord as the one who bestows strength to the psalmist; thus the translation “my source of strength.”

[21:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 21. The psalmist praises the Lord for the way he protects and blesses the Davidic king.

[21:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your strength.” The translation interprets the pronominal suffix as subjective, rather than merely descriptive (or attributive).

[21:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and in your deliverance, how greatly he rejoices.”

[40:13]  ¹² tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.

[40:17]  ¹³ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

[69:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[69:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “let me be delivered.”

[69:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).

[69:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”

[69:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[69:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[69:17]  ²² tn Or “quickly.”

[69:18]  ²³ tn Heb “come near my life and redeem it.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).