Psalms 3:4

3:4 To the Lord I cried out, ¹ 

and he answered me from his holy hill. ²  (Selah)

Psalms 13:3

13:3 Look at me! ³  Answer me, O Lord my God!

Revive me, ⁴  or else I will die! ⁵ 

Psalms 17:6

17:6 I call to you for you will answer me, O God.

Listen to me! ⁶ 

Hear what I say! ⁷ 

Psalms 20:1

Psalm 20 ⁸ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

20:1 May the Lord answer ⁹  you ¹⁰  when you are in trouble; ¹¹ 

may the God of Jacob ¹²  make you secure!

Psalms 22:2

22:2 My God, I cry out during the day,

but you do not answer,

and during the night my prayers do not let up. ¹³ 

Psalms 38:15

38:15 Yet ¹⁴  I wait for you, O Lord!

You will respond, O Lord, my God!

Psalms 65:5

65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,

O God, our savior. ¹⁵ 

All the ends of the earth trust in you, ¹⁶ 

as well as those living across the wide seas. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 69:16-17

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ¹⁸ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

69:17 Do not ignore ¹⁹  your servant,

for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! ²⁰ 

Psalms 81:7

81:7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.

I answered you from a dark thundercloud. ²¹ 

I tested you at the waters of Meribah. ²²  (Selah)

Psalms 86:1

Psalm 86 ²³ 

A prayer of David.

86:1 Listen ²⁴  O Lord! Answer me!

For I am oppressed and needy.

Psalms 99:6

99:6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;

Samuel was one of those who prayed to him. ²⁵ 

They ²⁶  prayed to the Lord and he answered them.

Psalms 99:8

99:8 O Lord our God, you answered them.

They found you to be a forgiving God,

but also one who punished their sinful deeds. ²⁷ 

Psalms 143:1

Psalm 143 ²⁸ 

A psalm of David.

143:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my plea for help!

Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!

[3:4]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal form could be an imperfect, yielding the translation “I cry out,” but the verb form in the next line (a vav [ו] consecutive with the preterite) suggests this is a brief narrative of what has already happened. Consequently the verb form in v. 4a is better understood as a preterite, “I cried out.” (For another example of the preterite of this same verb form, see Ps 30:8.) Sometime after the crisis arose, the psalmist prayed to the Lord and received an assuring answer. Now he confidently awaits the fulfillment of the divine promise.

[3:4]  ² sn His holy hill. That is, Zion (see Pss 2:6; 48:1-2). The psalmist recognizes that the Lord dwells in his sanctuary on Mount Zion.

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “see.”

[13:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (’ur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”

[17:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “Turn your ear toward me.”

[17:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “my word.”

[20:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.

[20:1]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.

[20:1]  ⁹ sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.

[20:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”

[20:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.

[22:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “there is no silence to me.”

[38:15]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps “surely.”

[65:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”

[65:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”

[65:5]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.

[69:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[69:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[69:17]  ¹⁸ tn Or “quickly.”

[81:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I answered you in the hidden place of thunder.” This may allude to God’s self-revelation at Mount Sinai, where he appeared in a dark cloud accompanied by thunder (see Exod 19:16).

[81:7]  ²⁰ sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at the place called Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.

[86:1]  ²¹ sn Psalm 86. The psalmist appeals to God’s mercy as he asks for deliverance from his enemies.

[86:1]  ²² tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[99:6]  ²³ tn Heb “among those who called on his name.”

[99:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “those who.” The participle is in apposition to the phrase “those who called on his name” in the preceding line.

[99:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a God of lifting up [i.e., forgiveness] you were to them, and an avenger concerning their deeds.” The present translation reflects the traditional interpretation, which understands the last line as qualifying the preceding one. God forgave Moses and Aaron, but he also disciplined them when they sinned (cf. NIV, NRSV). Another option is to take “their deeds” as referring to harmful deeds directed against Moses and Aaron. In this case the verse may be translated, “and one who avenged attacks against them.” Still another option is to emend the participial form נֹקֵם (noqem, “an avenger”) to נֹקָם (noqam), a rare Qal participial form of נָקַה (naqah, “purify”) with a suffixed pronoun. In this case one could translate, “and one who purified them from their [sinful] deeds” (cf. NEB “and held them innocent”).

[143:1]  ²⁷ sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.