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 62:2

62:2 He alone is my protector ¹³  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ¹⁴  I will not be upended. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 62:6-7

62:6 He alone is my protector ¹⁶  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ¹⁷  I will not be upended. ¹⁸ 

62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;

God is my strong protector and my shelter. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 78:35

78:35 They remembered that God was their protector, ²⁰ 

and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. ²¹ 

[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.

[62:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:2]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) at the end of the line. It is unusual for this adverb to follow a negated verb. Some see this as qualifying the assertion to some degree, but this would water down the affirmation too much (see v. 6b, where the adverb is omitted). If the adverb has a qualifying function, it would suggest that the psalmist might be upended, though not severely. This is inconsistent with the confident mood of the psalm. The adverb probably has an emphatic force here, “I will not be greatly upended” meaning “I will not be annihilated.”

[62:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:6]  ¹⁷ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:6]  ¹⁸ sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.

[62:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”

[78:35]  ²⁰ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[78:35]  ²¹ tn Heb “and [that] God Most High [was] their redeemer.”