Psalms 25:1

Psalm 25 ¹ 

By David.

25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. ² 

Psalms 25:18

25:18 See my pain and suffering!

Forgive all my sins! ³ 

Psalms 72:3

72:3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,

and the hills will announce justice. ⁴ 

Psalms 106:26

106:26 So he made a solemn vow ⁵ 

that he would make them die ⁶  in the desert,

Psalms 116:13

116:13 I will celebrate my deliverance, ⁷ 

and call on the name of the Lord.

Psalms 134:2

134:2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary

and praise the Lord!

Psalms 139:9

139:9 If I were to fly away ⁸  on the wings of the dawn, ⁹ 

and settle down on the other side ¹⁰  of the sea,

Psalms 139:20

139:20 They ¹¹  rebel against you ¹²  and act deceitfully; ¹³ 

your enemies lie. ¹⁴ 

[25:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.

[25:1]  ² tn Heb “to you, O Lord, my life I lift up.” To “lift up” one’s “life” to the Lord means to express one’s trust in him through prayer. See Pss 86:4; 143:8.

[25:18]  ³ tn Heb “lift up all my sins.”

[72:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the] mountains will bear peace to the people, and [the] hills with justice.” The personified mountains and hills probably represent messengers who will sweep over the land announcing the king’s just decrees and policies. See Isa 52:7 and C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:133.

[106:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he lifted his hand to [or “concerning”] them.” The idiom “to lift a hand” here refers to swearing an oath. One would sometimes solemnly lift one’s hand when making such a vow (see Ezek 20:5-6, 15).

[106:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “to cause them to fall.”

[116:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “a cup of deliverance I will lift up.” Perhaps this alludes to a drink offering the psalmist will present as he thanks the Lord for his deliverance. See v. 17.

[139:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “rise up.”

[139:9]  ¹² sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.

[139:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “at the end.”

[139:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “who.”

[139:20]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).

[139:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “by deceit.”

[139:20]  ¹⁶ tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nosÿu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).