Psalms 25:17

25:17 Deliver me from my distress; ¹ 

rescue me from my suffering! ² 

Psalms 25:22

25:22 O God, rescue ³  Israel

from all their distress! ⁴ 

Psalms 37:39

37:39 But the Lord delivers the godly; ⁵ 

he protects them in times of trouble. ⁶ 

Psalms 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! ⁷ 

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” ⁸ 

Psalms 86:7

86:7 In my time of trouble I cry out to you,

for you will answer me.

[25:17]  ¹ tc Heb “the distresses of my heart, they make wide.” The text makes little if any sense as it stands, unless this is an otherwise unattested intransitive use of the Hiphil of רָחַב (rakhav, “be wide”). It is preferable to emend the form הִרְחִיבוּ (hirkhivu; Hiphil perfect third plural “they make wide”) to הַרְחֵיב (harkhev; Hiphil imperative masculine singular “make wide”). (The final vav [ו] can be joined to the following word and taken as a conjunction.) In this case one can translate, “[in/from] the distresses of my heart, make wide [a place for me],” that is, “deliver me from the distress I am experiencing.” For the expression “make wide [a place for me],” see Ps 4:1.

[25:17]  ² tn Heb “from my distresses lead me out.”

[25:22]  ³ tn Or “redeem.”

[25:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “his distresses.”

[37:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the deliverance of the godly [ones] [is] from the Lord.”

[37:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “[he is] their place of refuge in a time of trouble.”

[50:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

[50:15]  ⁸ sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.