Psalms 31:17

31:17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,

for I call out to you!

May evil men be humiliated!

May they go wailing to the grave! ¹ 

Psalms 57:3

57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me ² 

from my enemies who hurl insults! ³  (Selah)

May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

Psalms 71:6

71:6 I have leaned on you since birth; ⁴ 

you pulled me ⁵  from my mother’s womb.

I praise you continually. ⁶ 

Psalms 81:7

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

I answered you from a dark thundercloud. ⁷ 

I tested you at the waters of Meribah. ⁸  (Selah)

Psalms 88:8

88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free. ⁹ 

Psalms 118:12

118:12 They surrounded me like bees.

But they disappeared as quickly ¹⁰  as a fire among thorns. ¹¹ 

Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.

Psalms 144:11

144:11 Grab me and rescue me from the power of foreigners, ¹² 

who speak lies,

and make false promises. ¹³ 

Psalms 144:14

144:14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. ¹⁴ 

No one will break through our walls,

no one will be taken captive,

and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. ¹⁵ 

[31:17]  ¹ tn The verb יִדְּמוּ (yiddÿmu) is understood as a form of דָּמַם (damam, “wail, lament”). Another option is to take the verb from דָּמַם (“be quiet”; see BDB 198-99 s.v. I דָּמַם), in which case one might translate, “May they lie silent in the grave.”

[57:3]  ² tn Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. NRSV).

[57:3]  ³ tn Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”

[71:6]  ³ tn Heb “from the womb.”

[71:6]  ⁴ tc The form in the MT is derived from גָזָה (gazah, “to cut off”), perhaps picturing God as the one who severed the psalmist’s umbilical cord. Many interpreters and translators prefer to emend the text to גֹחִי (gokhiy), from גוּח (gukh) or גִיח, (gikh, “pull out”; see Ps 22:9; cf. the present translation) or to עוּזִּי (’uzziy, “my strength”; cf. NEB “my protector since I left my mother’s womb”).

[71:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in you [is] my praise continually.”

[81:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[88:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”

[118:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “were extinguished.”

[118:12]  ⁷ tn The point seems to be that the hostility of the nations (v. 10) is short-lived, like a fire that quickly devours thorns and then burns out. Some, attempting to create a better parallel with the preceding line, emend דֹּעֲכוּ (do’akhu, “they were extinguished”) to בָּעֲרוּ (ba’aru, “they burned”). In this case the statement emphasizes their hostility.

[144:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”

[144:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” See v. 8 where the same expression occurs.

[144:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).

[144:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”