Discovery BoxPsalms 32:6
Context32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers 1 should pray to you
while there is a window of opportunity. 2
Certainly 3 when the surging water 4 rises,
it will not reach them. 5
Psalms 40:5
Context40:5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. 6
No one can thwart you! 7
I want to declare them and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount! 8
Psalms 85:8
Context85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. 9
For he will make 10 peace with his people, his faithful followers. 11
Yet they must not 12 return to their foolish ways.
Psalms 142:1
ContextA well-written song 14 by David, when he was in the cave; 15 a prayer.
142:1 To the Lord I cry out; 16
to the Lord I plead for mercy. 17
[32:6] 1 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
[32:6] 2 tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the
[32:6] 3 tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.
[32:6] 4 sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.
[32:6] 5 tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.
[40:5] 6 tn Heb “many things you have done, you, O
[40:5] 7 tn Heb “there is none arrayed against you.” The precise meaning of the text is unclear, but the collocation עָרַךְ אֶל (’arakh ’el, “array against”) is used elsewhere of military (Judg 20:30; 1 Chr 19:17) or verbal opposition (Job 32:14).
[40:5] 8 tn Heb “I will declare and I will speak, they are too numerous to recount.” The present translation assumes that the cohortatives are used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “Should I try to declare [them] and speak [of them]…” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortatives are part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.) Another option is to take the cohortatives as a declaration of the psalmist’s resolve to announce the truth expressed in the next line. In this case one might translate: “I will declare and speak [the truth]: They are too numerous to recount.”
[85:8] 11 sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.
[85:8] 12 tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).
[85:8] 13 tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.
[85:8] 14 tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.
[142:1] 16 sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.
[142:1] 17 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
[142:1] 18 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while 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. See the superscription of Ps 57.
[142:1] 19 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the
[142:1] 20 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the
