Psalms 25:1

Psalm 25 ¹ 

By David.

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

Psalms 94:19

94:19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me, ³ 

your soothing touch makes me happy. ⁴ 

Psalms 119:25

ד (Dalet)

119:25 I collapse in the dirt. ⁵ 

Revive me with your word! ⁶ 

Psalms 119:28

119:28 I collapse ⁷  from grief.

Sustain me by your word! ⁸ 

Psalms 119:81

כ (Kaf)

119:81 I desperately long for ⁹  your deliverance.

I find hope in your word.

Psalms 119:109

119:109 My life is in continual danger, ¹⁰ 

but I do not forget your law.

Psalms 119:129

פ (Pe)

119:129 Your rules are marvelous.

Therefore I observe them.

Psalms 119:167

119:167 I keep your rules;

I love them greatly.

Psalms 119:175

119:175 May I ¹¹  live and praise you!

May your regulations help me! ¹² 

Psalms 130:5-6

130:5 I rely on ¹³  the Lord,

I rely on him with my whole being; ¹⁴ 

I wait for his assuring word. ¹⁵ 

130:6 I yearn for the Lord, ¹⁶ 

more than watchmen do for the morning,

yes, more than watchmen do for the morning. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 146:1

Psalm 146 ¹⁸ 

146:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

[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.

[94:19]  ³ tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”

[94:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”

[119:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “my soul clings to the dirt.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[119:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”

[119:28]  ⁷ tn Some translate “my soul weeps,” taking the verb דָלַף (dalaf) from a root meaning “to drip; to drop” (BDB 196 s.v. דֶּלַף). On the basis of cognate evidence from Arabic and Akkadian, HALOT 223 s.v. II דלף proposes a homonymic root here, meaning “be sleepless.” Following L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 127, 135) the translation assumes that the verb is cognate with Ugaritic dlp, “to collapse; to crumple” in CTA 2 iv. 17, 26. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 44, 144.

[119:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”

[119:81]  ⁹ tn Heb “my soul pines for.” See Ps 84:2.

[119:109]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my life [is] in my hands continually.”

[119:175]  ¹³ tn Heb “my life.”

[119:175]  ¹⁴ tn God’s regulations will “help” the psalmist by giving him moral and ethical guidance.

[130:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “wait for.”

[130:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my soul waits.”

[130:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his word.”

[130:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my soul for the master.”

[130:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “more than watchmen for the morning, watchmen for the morning.” The words “yes, more” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[146:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the Lord, the just king of the world who cares for the needy.