Psalms 20:3

20:3 May he take notice ¹  of your offerings;

may he accept ²  your burnt sacrifice! (Selah)

Psalms 25:19

25:19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;

they hate me and want to harm me. ³ 

Psalms 39:7

39:7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?

You are my only hope! ⁴ 

Psalms 48:6

48:6 Look at them shake uncontrollably, ⁵ 

like a woman writhing in childbirth. ⁶ 

Psalms 51:5

51:5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,

a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. ⁷ 

Psalms 51:9

51:9 Hide your face ⁸  from my sins!

Wipe away ⁹  all my guilt!

Psalms 51:18

51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! ¹⁰ 

Fortify ¹¹  the walls of Jerusalem! ¹² 

Psalms 54:4

54:4 Look, God is my deliverer! ¹³ 

The Lord is among those who support me. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 55:7

55:7 Look, I will escape to a distant place;

I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)

Psalms 84:12

84:12 O Lord who rules over all, ¹⁵ 

how blessed are those who trust in you! ¹⁶ 

Psalms 102:14

102:14 Indeed, ¹⁷  your servants take delight in her stones,

and feel compassion for ¹⁸  the dust of her ruins. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 105:4

105:4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives!

Seek his presence continually!

Psalms 119:40

119:40 Look, I long for your precepts.

Revive me with your deliverance! ²⁰ 

Psalms 119:135

119:135 Smile ²¹  on your servant!

Teach me your statutes!

[20:3]  ¹ tn Or “remember.” For other examples of the verb זָכַר (zakhar) carrying the nuance “take notice of,” see Pss 8:4 and 9:12.

[20:3]  ² tc Heb “consider as fat.” The verbal form should probably be emended to יְדַשְּׁנֶהָ (yÿdashÿneha), the final he (ה) being understood as a third feminine singular pronominal suffix referring back to the feminine noun “burnt sacrifice.”

[25:19]  ³ tn Heb “see my enemies for they are numerous, and [with] violent hatred they hate me.”

[39:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “my hope, for you it [is].”

[48:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “trembling seizes them there.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here, as often in poetic texts, to point “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination” (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[48:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with] writhing like one giving birth.”

[51:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, in wrongdoing I was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The prefixed verbal form in the second line is probably a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive), stating a simple historical fact. The psalmist is not suggesting that he was conceived through an inappropriate sexual relationship (although the verse has sometimes been understood to mean that, or even that all sexual relationships are sinful). The psalmist’s point is that he has been a sinner from the very moment his personal existence began. By going back beyond the time of birth to the moment of conception, the psalmist makes his point more emphatically in the second line than in the first.

[51:9]  ¹¹ sn In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”

[51:9]  ¹² tn See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. 1.

[51:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “do what is good for Zion in your favor.”

[51:18]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Build.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:18]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[54:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “my helper.”

[54:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “sustain my life.”

[84:12]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally “Lord of hosts.”

[84:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man [who] trusts in you.” Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle stated here is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the plural “those.” The individual referred to here is representative of all followers of God, as the use of the plural form in v. 12b indicates.

[102:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for.”

[102:14]  ²⁰ tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor.

[102:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.

[119:40]  ²¹ tn Or “righteousness.”

[119:135]  ²³ tn Heb “cause your face to shine.”