Psalms 31:9

31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!

My eyes grow dim ¹  from suffering. ² 

I have lost my strength. ³ 

Psalms 57:1-3

Psalm 57 ⁴ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ⁵  a prayer ⁶  of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. ⁷ 

57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter. ⁸ 

In the shadow of your wings ⁹  I take shelter

until trouble passes.

57:2 I cry out for help to the sovereign God, ¹⁰ 

to the God who vindicates ¹¹  me.

57:3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me ¹² 

from my enemies who hurl insults! ¹³  (Selah)

May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

Psalms 59:10

59:10 The God who loves me will help me; ¹⁴ 

God will enable me to triumph over ¹⁵  my enemies. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 69:13-16

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ¹⁷ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ¹⁸ 

69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!

Deliver me ¹⁹  from those who hate me,

from the deep water!

69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!

Don’t let the deep swallow me up!

Don’t let the pit ²⁰  devour me! ²¹ 

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ²² 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

Psalms 136:10

136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his loyal love endures,

Psalms 136:15

136:15 and tossed ²³  Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,

for his loyal love endures,

Psalms 136:17-20

136:17 to the one who struck down great kings,

for his loyal love endures,

136:18 and killed powerful kings,

for his loyal love endures,

136:19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,

for his loyal love endures,

136:20 Og, king of Bashan,

for his loyal love endures,

Psalms 143:12

143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, ²⁴  destroy my enemies!

Annihilate ²⁵  all who threaten my life, ²⁶ 

for I am your servant.

[31:9]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[31:9]  ² tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.

[31:9]  ³ tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.

[57:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.

[57:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.

[57:1]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[57:1]  ⁷ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.

[57:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[57:1]  ⁹ sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).

[57:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to God Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[57:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “avenges in favor of.”

[57:3]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.”

[59:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”

[59:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”

[59:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.

[69:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[69:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “let me be delivered.”

[69:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).

[69:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”

[69:16]  ²² tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[136:15]  ²³ tn Or “shook off.”

[143:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

[143:12]  ²⁵ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.

[143:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”