Discovery BoxPsalms 27:1-3
ContextBy David.
27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! 2
I fear no one! 3
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one! 4
27:2 When evil men attack me 5
to devour my flesh, 6
when my adversaries and enemies attack me, 7
they stumble and fall. 8
27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear. 9
Even when war is imminent, 10
I remain confident. 11
Psalms 46:1
ContextFor the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; 13 a song.
46:1 God is our strong refuge; 14
he is truly our helper in times of trouble. 15
Psalms 46:11
Context46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! 16
The God of Jacob 17 is our protector! 18 (Selah)
Psalms 56:4
Context56:4 In God – I boast in his promise 19 –
in God I trust, I am not afraid.
What can mere men 20 do to me? 21
Psalms 56:9
Context56:9 My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help; 22
I know that God is on my side. 23
Psalms 56:11
Context56:11 in God I trust, I am not afraid.
What can mere men 24 do to me? 25
Psalms 146:5
Context146:5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Isaiah 51:12
Context51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. 26
Why are you afraid of mortal men,
of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? 27
Jeremiah 20:11
Context20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. 28
Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.
They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.
Their disgrace will never be forgotten.
Micah 7:8-10
Context7:8 My enemies, 29 do not gloat 30 over me!
Though I have fallen, I will get up.
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. 31
7:9 I must endure 32 the Lord’s anger,
for I have sinned against him.
But then 33 he will defend my cause, 34
and accomplish justice on my behalf.
He will lead me out into the light;
I will experience firsthand 35 his deliverance. 36
7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.
They say 37 to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”
I will gloat over them. 38
Then they will be trampled down 39
like mud in the streets.
Romans 8:31
Context8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Hebrews 13:6
Context13:6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and 40 I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” 41
[27:1] 1 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
[27:1] 2 tn Heb “the
[27:1] 3 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
[27:1] 4 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
[27:2] 5 tn Heb “draw near to me.”
[27:2] 6 sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).
[27:2] 7 tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.
[27:2] 8 tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”
[27:3] 9 tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”
[27:3] 10 tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”
[27:3] 11 tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”
[46:1] 13 sn Psalm 46. In this so-called “Song Of Zion” God’s people confidently affirm that they are secure because the great warrior-king dwells within Jerusalem and protects it from the nations that cause such chaos in the earth. A refrain (vv. 7, 11) concludes the song’s two major sections.
[46:1] 14 sn The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲלָמוֹת (alamoth, which means “young women”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. Cf. 1 Chr 15:20.
[46:1] 15 tn Heb “our refuge and strength,” which is probably a hendiadys meaning “our strong refuge” (see Ps 71:7). Another option is to translate, “our refuge and source of strength.”
[46:1] 16 tn Heb “a helper in times of trouble he is found [to be] greatly.” The perfect verbal form has a generalizing function here. The adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “greatly”) has an emphasizing function.
[46:11] 17 tn Heb “the
[46:11] 18 tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).
[46:11] 19 tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).
[56:4] 21 tn Heb “in God I boast, his word.” The syntax in the Hebrew text is difficult. (1) The line could be translated, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” Such a translation assumes that the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and that “his word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. Another option (2) is to translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” is a song of praise. (In this view the pronominal suffix “his” must be omitted as in v. 10.) The present translation reflects yet another option (3): In this case “I praise his word” is a parenthetical statement, with “his word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in the next line, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.
[56:4] 22 tn Heb “flesh,” which refers by metonymy to human beings (see v. 11, where “man” is used in this same question), envisioned here as mortal and powerless before God.
[56:4] 23 tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.
[56:9] 25 tn Heb “then my enemies will turn back in the day I cry out.” The Hebrew particle אָז (’az, “then”) is probably used here to draw attention to the following statement.
[56:9] 26 tn Heb “this I know, that God is for me.”
[56:11] 29 tn The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except “flesh” is used there instead of “man.”
[56:11] 30 tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.
[51:12] 33 tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.
[51:12] 34 tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.
[20:11] 37 sn This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him (1:8, 19) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7), lament (vv. 7-10), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11), petition (v. 12), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26.
[7:8] 41 tn The singular form is understood as collective.
[7:8] 42 tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”
[7:8] 43 sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The
[7:9] 47 tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”
[7:9] 49 tn Or “justice, vindication.”
[7:10] 49 tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:10] 50 tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”
[7:10] 51 tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”
[13:6] 53 tc Some important
