Psalms 31:8

31:8 You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;

you enable me to stand ¹  in a wide open place.

Psalms 35:25

35:25 Do not let them say to themselves, ²  “Aha! We have what we wanted!” ³ 

Do not let them say, “We have devoured him!”

Psalms 38:16

38:16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; ⁴ 

when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. ⁵ 

Psalms 41:11

41:11 By this ⁶  I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does ⁷  not triumph ⁸  over me.

Psalms 140:8

140:8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! ⁹ 

Do not allow their ¹⁰  plan to succeed when they attack! ¹¹  (Selah)

[31:8]  ¹ tn Heb “you cause my feet to stand.”

[35:25]  ² tn Heb “in their heart[s].”

[35:25]  ³ tn Heb “Aha! Our desire!” The “desire” of the psalmist’s enemies is to triumph over him.

[38:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).

[38:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.

[41:11]  ⁶ sn By this. Having recalled his former lament and petition, the psalmist returns to the confident mood of vv. 1-3. The basis for his confidence may be a divine oracle of deliverance, assuring him that God would intervene and vindicate him. The demonstrative pronoun “this” may refer to such an oracle, which is assumed here, though its contents are not included. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 319, 321.

[41:11]  ⁷ tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).

[41:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “shout.”

[140:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “do not grant the desires of the wicked.”

[140:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his.” The singular is used in a representative sense (see v. 1).

[140:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his plot do not promote, they rise up.” The translation understands the final verb as being an unmarked temporal clause. Another option is to revocalize the verb as a Hiphil and take the verb with the next verse, “those who surround me lift up [their] head,” which could refer to their proud attitude as they anticipate victory (see Ps 27:6).