Psalms 34:17

34:17 The godly ¹  cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles. ² 

Psalms 107:6

107:6 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;

he delivered them from their troubles.

Psalms 107:28

107:28 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;

he delivered them from their troubles.

Psalms 77:1

Psalm 77 ³ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.

77:1 I will cry out to God ⁴  and call for help!

I will cry out to God and he will pay attention ⁵  to me.

Psalms 88:1

Psalm 88 ⁶ 

A song, a psalm written by the Korahites; for the music director; according to the machalath-leannoth style; ⁷  a well-written song ⁸  by Heman the Ezrachite.

88:1 O Lord God who delivers me! ⁹ 

By day I cry out

and at night I pray before you. ¹⁰ 

[34:17]  ¹ tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

[34:17]  ² tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

[77:1]  ³ sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.

[77:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.

[77:1]  ⁵ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).

[88:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 88. The psalmist cries out in pain to the Lord, begging him for relief from his intense and constant suffering. The psalmist regards God as the ultimate cause of his distress, but nevertheless clings to God in hope.

[88:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew phrase מָחֲלַת לְעַנּוֹת (makhalat lÿ’annot) may mean “illness to afflict.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term מָחֲלַת also appears in the superscription of Ps 53.

[88:1]  ⁷ 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.

[88:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “O Lord God of my deliverance.” In light of the content of the psalm, this reference to God as the one who delivers seems overly positive. For this reason some emend the text to אַלֹהַי שִׁוַּעְתִּי (’alohay shivva’tiy, “[O Lord] my God, I cry out”). See v. 13.

[88:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “[by] day I cry out, in the night before you.”