Psalms 3:1

Psalm 3 ¹ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ² 

3:1 Lord, how ³  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ⁴ 

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 ⁵ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ⁶  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ⁷ 

how magnificent ⁸  is your reputation ⁹  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 22:1

Psalm 22 ¹¹ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ¹²  a psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ¹³ 

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ¹⁵ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ¹⁶ 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ¹⁷  in you. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 42:5

42:5 Why are you depressed, ¹⁹  O my soul? ²⁰ 

Why are you upset? ²¹ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ²² 

Psalms 68:16

68:16 Why do you look with envy, ²³  O mountains ²⁴  with many peaks,

at the mountain where God has decided to live? ²⁵ 

Indeed ²⁶  the Lord will live there ²⁷  permanently!

Psalms 85:8

85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. ²⁸ 

For he will make ²⁹  peace with his people, his faithful followers. ³⁰ 

Yet they must not ³¹  return to their foolish ways.

[3:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ² sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”

[8:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ⁷ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[22:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

[22:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

[22:1]  ¹¹ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

[22:1]  ¹² tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.

[31:19]  ¹³ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

[31:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

[31:19]  ¹⁵ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

[31:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

[42:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:5]  ¹⁸ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and [why] are you in turmoil upon me?” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the descriptive present nuance of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

[42:5]  ²⁰ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of his face.” The verse division in the Hebrew text is incorrect. אֱלֹהַי (’elohay, “my God”) at the beginning of v. 7 belongs with the end of v. 6 (see the corresponding refrains in 42:11 and 43:5, both of which end with “my God” after “saving acts of my face”). The Hebrew term פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”) should be emended to פְּנֵי (pÿney, “face of”). The emended text reads, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention.

[68:16]  ²¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb רָצַד (ratsad), translated here “look with envy,” is uncertain; it occurs only here in the OT. See BDB 952-53. A cognate verb occurs in later Aramaic with the meaning “to lie in wait; to watch” (Jastrow 1492 s.v. רְצַד).

[68:16]  ²² tn Perhaps the apparent plural form should be read as a singular with enclitic mem (ם; later misinterpreted as a plural ending). The preceding verse has the singular form.

[68:16]  ²³ tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.

[68:16]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.

[68:16]  ²⁵ tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[85:8]  ²⁵ sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.

[85:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).

[85:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.

[85:8]  ²⁸ tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.