Psalms 27:9

27:9 Do not reject me! ¹ 

Do not push your servant away in anger!

You are my deliverer! ² 

Do not forsake or abandon me,

O God who vindicates me!

Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ³ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ⁴ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Psalms 46:1

Psalm 46 ⁵ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ⁶  a song.

46:1 God is our strong refuge; ⁷ 

he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ⁸ 

[27:9]  ¹ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[27:9]  ² tn Or “[source of] help.”

[40:17]  ³ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

[46:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.