Psalms 31:1

Psalm 31 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

31:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

Vindicate me by rescuing me! ² 

Psalms 65:4

65:4 How blessed ³  is the one whom you choose,

and allow to live in your palace courts. ⁴ 

May we be satisfied with the good things of your house –

your holy palace. ⁵ 

Psalms 68:16

68:16 Why do you look with envy, ⁶  O mountains ⁷  with many peaks,

at the mountain where God has decided to live? ⁸ 

Indeed ⁹  the Lord will live there ¹⁰  permanently!

[31:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.

[31:1]  ² tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”

[65:4]  ³ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[65:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”

[65:4]  ⁵ tn Or “temple.”

[68:16]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.

[68:16]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.

[68:16]  ⁹ tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.