Psalms 3:7

3:7 Rise up, ¹  Lord!

Deliver me, my God!

Yes, ²  you will strike ³  all my enemies on the jaw;

you will break the teeth ⁴  of the wicked. ⁵ 

Psalms 13:2

13:2 How long must I worry, ⁶ 

and suffer in broad daylight? ⁷ 

How long will my enemy gloat over me? ⁸ 

Psalms 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ⁹  of the oppressed; ¹⁰ 

he did not ignore him; ¹¹ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ¹² 

Psalms 30:1

Psalm 30 ¹³ 

A psalm – a song used at the dedication of the temple; ¹⁴  by David.

30:1 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, ¹⁵ 

and did not allow my enemies to gloat ¹⁶  over me.

Psalms 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ¹⁷ 

praising our God. ¹⁸ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ¹⁹ 

Psalms 44:1

Psalm 44 ²⁰ 

For the music director; by the Korahites, a well-written song. ²¹ 

44:1 O God, we have clearly heard; ²² 

our ancestors ²³  have told us

what you did ²⁴  in their days,

in ancient times. ²⁵ 

Psalms 68:6

68:6 God settles those who have been deserted in their own homes; ²⁶ 

he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. ²⁷ 

But sinful rebels live in the desert. ²⁸ 

Psalms 91:14

91:14 The Lord says, ²⁹ 

“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;

I will protect him ³⁰  because he is loyal to me. ³¹ 

Psalms 122:4

122:4 The tribes go up ³²  there, ³³ 

the tribes of the Lord,

where it is required that Israel

give thanks to the name of the Lord. ³⁴ 

Psalms 142:7

142:7 Free me ³⁵  from prison,

that I may give thanks to your name.

Because of me the godly will assemble, ³⁶ 

for you will vindicate me. ³⁷ 

Psalms 148:14

148:14 He has made his people victorious, ³⁸ 

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –

the Israelites, the people who are close to him. ³⁹ 

Praise the Lord!

[3:7]  ¹ tn In v. 2 the psalmist describes his enemies as those who “confront” him (קָמִים [qamim], literally, “rise up against him”). Now, using the same verbal root (קוּם, qum) he asks the Lord to rise up (קוּמָה, qumah) in his defense.

[3:7]  ² tn Elsewhere in the psalms the particle כִּי (ki), when collocated with a perfect verbal form and subordinated to a preceding imperative directed to God, almost always has an explanatory or causal force (“for, because”) and introduces a motivating argument for why God should respond positively to the request (see Pss 5:10; 6:2; 12:1; 16:1; 41:4; 55:9; 56:1; 57:1; 60:2; 69:1; 74:20; 119:94; 123:3; 142:6; 143:8). (On three occasions the כִּי is recitative after a verb of perception [“see/know that,” see Pss 4:3; 25:19; 119:159]). If כִּי is taken as explanatory here, then the psalmist is arguing that God should deliver him now because that is what God characteristically does. However, such a motivating argument is not used in the passages cited above. The motivating argument usually focuses on the nature of the psalmist’s dilemma or the fact that he trusts in the Lord. For this reason it is unlikely that כִּי has its normal force here. Most scholars understand the particle כִּי as having an asseverative (emphasizing) function here (“indeed, yes”; NEB leaves the particle untranslated).

[3:7]  ³ tn If the particle כִּי (ki) is taken as explanatory, then the perfect verbal forms in v. 7b would describe God’s characteristic behavior. However, as pointed out in the preceding note on the word “yes,” the particle probably has an asseverative force here. If so, the perfects may be taken as indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s assault on his enemies as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm, as expressed before (vv. 3-6) and after this (v. 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“Strike all my enemies on the jaw, break the teeth of the wicked”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[3:7]  ⁴ sn The expression break the teeth may envision violent hand-to hand combat, though it is possible that the enemies are pictured here as a dangerous animal (see Job 29:17).

[3:7]  ⁵ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[13:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”

[13:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”

[13:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”

[22:24]  ¹¹ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ¹² sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “heard.”

[30:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 30. The author thanks the Lord for delivering him from death and urges others to join him in praise. The psalmist experienced divine discipline for a brief time, but when he cried out for help the Lord intervened and restored his favor.

[30:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a song of the dedication of the house.” The referent of “house” is unclear. It is possible that David wrote this psalm for the dedication ceremony of Solomon’s temple. Another possibility is that the psalm was used on the occasion of the dedication of the second temple following the return from exile, or on the occasion of the rededication of the temple in Maccabean times.

[30:1]  ¹⁸ tn Elsewhere the verb דָּלָה (dalah) is used of drawing water from a well (Exod 2:16, 19; Prov 20:5). The psalmist was trapped in the pit leading to Sheol (see v. 3), but the Lord hoisted him up. The Piel stem is used here, perhaps suggesting special exertion on the Lord’s part.

[30:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “rejoice.”

[40:3]  ²¹ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ²² tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ²³ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

[44:1]  ²⁶ sn Psalm 44. The speakers in this psalm (the worshiping community within the nation Israel) were disappointed with God. The psalm begins on a positive note, praising God for leading Israel to past military victories. Verses 1-8 appear to be a song of confidence and petition which the people recited prior to battle. But suddenly the mood changes as the nation laments a recent defeat. The stark contrast between the present and the past only heightens the nation’s confusion. Israel trusted in God for victory, but the Lord rejected them and allowed them to be humiliated in battle. If Israel had been unfaithful to God, their defeat would make sense, but the nation was loyal to the Lord. Comparing the Lord to a careless shepherd, the nation urges God to wake up and to extend his compassion to his suffering people.

[44:1]  ²⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 42.

[44:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “with our ears we have heard.”

[44:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 2; the same Hebrew word may be translated either “fathers” or “ancestors” depending on the context.

[44:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the work you worked.”

[44:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “in the days of old.” This refers specifically to the days of Joshua, during Israel’s conquest of the land, as vv. 2-3 indicate.

[68:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “God causes the solitary ones to dwell in a house.” The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ³² tn Heb “he brings out prisoners into prosperity.” Another option is to translate, “he brings out prisoners with singing” (cf. NIV). The participle suggests this is what God typically does.

[68:6]  ³³ tn Or “in a parched [land].”

[91:14]  ³⁶ tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the words which follow are the Lord’s oracle of assurance.

[91:14]  ³⁷ tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).

[91:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).

[122:4]  ⁴¹ tn Or “went up.”

[122:4]  ⁴² tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”

[122:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”

[142:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “bring out my life.”

[142:7]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “gather around.”

[142:7]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.

[148:14]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.

[148:14]  ⁵² tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.