Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ¹  my stronghold, ²  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ³  I take shelter, ⁴ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁵  and my refuge. ⁶ 

Psalms 28:1

Psalm 28 ⁷ 

By David.

28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!

My protector, ⁸  do not ignore me! ⁹ 

If you do not respond to me, ¹⁰ 

I will join ¹¹  those who are descending into the grave. ¹² 

Psalms 31:2

31:2 Listen to me! ¹³ 

Quickly deliver me!

Be my protector and refuge, ¹⁴ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ¹⁵ 

Psalms 78:20

78:20 Yes, ¹⁶  he struck a rock and water flowed out,

streams gushed forth.

But can he also give us food?

Will he provide meat for his people?”

[18:2]  ¹ sn My high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[18:2]  ² sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[18:2]  ³ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ⁴ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ⁶ tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”

[28:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.

[28:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[28:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”

[28:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”

[28:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[28:1]  ¹² tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[31:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[31:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”

[31:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”

[78:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “look.”