Psalms 19:14

19:14 May my words and my thoughts

be acceptable in your sight, ¹ 

O Lord, my sheltering rock ²  and my redeemer. ³ 

Psalms 55:13

55:13 But it is you, ⁴  a man like me, ⁵ 

my close friend in whom I confided. ⁶ 

Psalms 94:22

94:22 But the Lord will protect me, ⁷ 

and my God will shelter me. ⁸ 

Psalms 38:11

38:11 Because of my condition, ⁹  even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; ¹⁰ 

my neighbors stand far away. ¹¹ 

Psalms 73:26

73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, ¹² 

but God always ¹³  protects my heart and gives me stability. ¹⁴ 

[19:14]  ¹ tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”

[19:14]  ² tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[19:14]  ³ tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.

[55:13]  ⁴ sn It is you. The psalmist addresses the apparent ringleader of the opposition, an individual who was once his friend.

[55:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man according to my value,” i.e., “a person such as I.”

[55:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “my close friend, one known by me.”

[94:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the Lord has become my elevated place.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

[94:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”

[38:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

[38:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

[38:11]  ¹² tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

[73:26]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).

[73:26]  ¹⁴ tn Or “forever.”

[73:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to a rocky summit where one could go for protection and to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.