Psalms 34:15

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help. ¹ 

Psalms 55:16-17

55:16 As for me, I will call out to God,

and the Lord will deliver me.

55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan, ² 

and he will hear ³  me. ⁴ 

Psalms 56:9

56:9 My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help; ⁵ 

I know that God is on my side. ⁶ 

Psalms 91:14-15

91:14 The Lord says, ⁷ 

“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;

I will protect him ⁸  because he is loyal to me. ⁹ 

91:15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.

I will be with him when he is in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him honor.

John 15:16

15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you ¹⁰  and appointed you to go and bear ¹¹  fruit, fruit that remains, ¹²  so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.

[34:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

[55:17]  ² tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here.

[55:17]  ³ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions.

[55:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “my voice.”

[56:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “then my enemies will turn back in the day I cry out.” The Hebrew particle אָז (’az, “then”) is probably used here to draw attention to the following statement.

[56:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “this I know, that God is for me.”

[91:14]  ⁷ tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the words which follow are the Lord’s oracle of assurance.

[91:14]  ⁸ tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).

[91:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).

[15:16]  ¹⁰ sn You did not choose me, but I chose you. If the disciples are now elevated in status from slaves to friends, they are friends who have been chosen by Jesus, rather than the opposite way round. Again this is true of all Christians, not just the twelve, and the theme that Christians are “chosen” by God appears frequently in other NT texts (e.g., Rom 8:33; Eph 1:4ff.; Col 3:12; and 1 Pet 2:4). Putting this together with the comments on 15:14 one may ask whether the author sees any special significance at all for the twelve. Jesus said in John 6:70 and 13:18 that he chose them, and 15:27 makes clear that Jesus in the immediate context is addressing those who have been with him from the beginning. In the Fourth Gospel the twelve, as the most intimate and most committed followers of Jesus, are presented as the models for all Christians, both in terms of their election and in terms of their mission.

[15:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “and yield.”

[15:16]  ¹² sn The purpose for which the disciples were appointed (“commissioned”) is to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains. The introduction of the idea of “going” at this point suggests that the fruit is something more than just character qualities in the disciples’ own lives, but rather involves fruit in the lives of others, i.e., Christian converts. There is a mission involved (cf. John 4:36). The idea that their fruit is permanent, however, relates back to vv. 7-8, as does the reference to asking the Father in Jesus’ name. It appears that as the imagery of the vine and the branches develops, the “fruit” which the branches produce shifts in emphasis from qualities in the disciples’ own lives in John 15:2, 4, 5 to the idea of a mission which affects the lives of others in John 15:16. The point of transition would be the reference to fruit in 15:8.