Psalms 31:21-22

31:21 The Lord deserves praise ¹ 

for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies. ² 

31:22 I jumped to conclusions and said, ³ 

“I am cut off from your presence!” ⁴ 

But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.

Psalms 66:19-20

66:19 However, God heard;

he listened to my prayer.

66:20 God deserves praise, ⁵ 

for ⁶  he did not reject my prayer

or abandon his love for me! ⁷ 

Psalms 69:33-34

69:33 For the Lord listens to the needy;

he does not despise his captive people. ⁸ 

69:34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him,

along with the seas and everything that swims in them!

Psalms 107:19-22

107:19 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;

he delivered them from their troubles.

107:20 He sent them an assuring word ⁹  and healed them;

he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped. ¹⁰ 

107:21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ¹¹ 

107:22 Let them present thank offerings,

and loudly proclaim what he has done! ¹² 

Psalms 116:1-2

Psalm 116 ¹³ 

116:1 I love the Lord

because he heard my plea for mercy, ¹⁴ 

116:2 and listened to me. ¹⁵ 

As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 118:5

118:5 In my distress ¹⁷  I cried out to the Lord.

The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place. ¹⁸ 

[31:21]  ¹ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[31:21]  ² tn Heb “for he caused his faithfulness to be amazing to me in a besieged city.” The psalmist probably speaks figuratively here. He compares his crisis to being trapped in a besieged city, but the Lord answered his prayer for help. Verses 19-24 were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18.

[31:22]  ³ tn Heb “and I, I said in my haste.”

[31:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “from before your eyes.”

[66:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

[66:20]  ⁶ tn Or “who.” In a blessing formula after בָּרוּךְ (barukh, “blessed be”) the form אֲשֶׁר (’asher), whether taken as a relative pronoun or causal particle, introduces the basis for the blessing/praise.

[66:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “did not turn aside my prayer and his loyal love with me.”

[69:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “his prisoners he does not despise.”

[107:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “he sent his word.” This probably refers to an oracle of assurance which announced his intention to intervene (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 59).

[107:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he rescued from their traps.” The Hebrew word שְׁחִית (shekhit, “trap”) occurs only here and in Lam 4:20, where it refers to a trap or pit in which one is captured. Because of the rarity of the term and the absence of an object with the verb “rescued,” some prefer to emend the text of Ps 107:20, reading מִשַׁחַת חַיָּתָם (mishakhat khayyatam, “[he rescued] their lives from the pit”). Note also NIV “from the grave,” which interprets the “pit” as Sheol or the grave.

[107:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

[107:22]  ¹² tn Heb “and let them proclaim his works with a ringing cry.”

[116:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 116. The psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him from a life threatening crisis and promises to tell the entire covenant community what God has done for him.

[116:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I love because the Lord heard my voice, my pleas.” It is possible that “the Lord” originally appeared directly after “I love” and was later accidentally misplaced. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls that God heard his cry for help (note the perfect in v. 2a and the narrative in vv. 3-4).

[116:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”

[116:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”

[118:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from the distress.” The noun מֵצַר (metsar, “straits; distress”) occurs only here and in Lam 1:3. In Ps 116:3 מצר should probably be emended to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”).

[118:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the Lord answered me in a wide open place.”