Psalms 25:16

25:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me,

for I am alone ¹  and oppressed!

Psalms 26:11

26:11 But I have integrity! ² 

Rescue me ³  and have mercy on me!

Psalms 86:15-16

86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.

You are patient ⁴  and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. ⁵ 

86:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me!

Give your servant your strength!

Deliver your slave! ⁶ 

Micah 7:19

7:19 You will once again ⁷  have mercy on us;

you will conquer ⁸  our evil deeds;

you will hurl our ⁹  sins into the depths of the sea. ¹⁰ 

[25:16]  ¹ tn That is, helpless and vulnerable.

[26:11]  ² tn Heb “and I in my integrity walk.” The psalmist uses the imperfect verbal form to emphasize this is his practice. The construction at the beginning of the verse (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist and the sinners mentioned in vv. 9-10.

[26:11]  ³ tn Or “redeem me.”

[86:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “slow to anger.”

[86:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”

[86:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 116:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

[7:19]  ⁷ tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.

[7:19]  ⁸ tn Some prefer to read יִכְבֹּס (yikhbos, “he will cleanse”; see HALOT 459 s.v. כבס pi). If the MT is taken as it stands, sin is personified as an enemy that the Lord subdues.

[7:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “their sins,” but the final mem (ם) may be enclitic rather than a pronominal suffix. In this case the suffix from the preceding line (“our”) may be understood as doing double duty.

[7:19]  ¹⁰ sn In this metaphor the Lord disposes of Israel’s sins by throwing them into the waters of the sea (here symbolic of chaos).