Psalms 35:12

35:12 They repay me evil for the good I have done; ¹ 

I am overwhelmed with sorrow. ² 

Psalms 90:15

90:15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us,

in proportion to the years we have experienced ³  trouble!

Psalms 107:39

107:39 As for their enemies, ⁴  they decreased in number and were beaten down,

because of painful distress ⁵  and suffering.

Psalms 34:21

34:21 Evil people self-destruct; ⁶ 

those who hate the godly are punished. ⁷ 

Psalms 37:19

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; ⁸ 

when famine comes they will have enough to eat. ⁹ 

Psalms 91:10

91:10 No harm will overtake ¹⁰  you;

no illness ¹¹  will come near your home. ¹² 

Psalms 109:5

109:5 They repay me evil for good, ¹³ 

and hate for love.

Psalms 112:7

112:7 He does not fear bad news.

He ¹⁴  is confident; he trusts ¹⁵  in the Lord.

Psalms 21:11

21:11 Yes, ¹⁶  they intend to do you harm; ¹⁷ 

they dream up a scheme, ¹⁸  but they do not succeed. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 27:5

27:5 He will surely ²⁰  give me shelter ²¹  in the day of danger; ²² 

he will hide me in his home; ²³ 

he will place me ²⁴  on an inaccessible rocky summit. ²⁵ 

Psalms 38:20

38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;

though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. ²⁶ 

Psalms 41:1

Psalm 41 ²⁷ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ²⁸  is the one who treats the poor properly! ²⁹ 

When trouble comes, ³⁰  the Lord delivers him. ³¹ 

Psalms 41:7

41:7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another; ³² 

they plan ways to harm me.

Psalms 144:10

144:10 the one who delivers ³³  kings,

and rescued David his servant from a deadly ³⁴  sword.

Psalms 15:3

15:3 He ³⁵  does not slander, ³⁶ 

or do harm to others, ³⁷ 

or insult his neighbor. ³⁸ 

Psalms 80:1

Psalm 80 ³⁹ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ⁴⁰  a psalm of Asaph.

80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,

you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!

You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, ⁴¹  reveal your splendor! ⁴² 

[35:12]  ¹ tn Heb “they repay me evil instead of good.”

[35:12]  ² tn Heb “[there is] bereavement to my soul.”

[90:15]  ³ tn Heb “have seen.”

[107:39]  ⁵ tn The words “As for their enemies” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. Without such clarification, one might think that v. 39 refers to those just mentioned in v. 38 as objects of divine blessing, which would contradict the point just emphasized by the psalmist. The structure of vv. 33-42 is paneled (A-B-A-B). In vv. 33-34 the psalmist describes God’s judgment upon his enemies (perhaps those who had enslaved his people). In vv. 35-38 he contrasts this judgment with the divine blessing poured out on God’s people. (See the note on the word “people” in v. 35.) In vv. 39-40 he contrasts this blessing with the judgment experienced by enemies, before returning in vv. 41-42 to the blessing experienced by God’s people.

[107:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the oppression of calamity.”

[34:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “evil kills the wicked [one].” The singular form is representative; the typical evil person is envisioned. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the typical nature of the action.

[34:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “are guilty,” but the verb is sometimes used metonymically with the meaning “to suffer the consequences of guilt,” the effect being substituted for the cause.

[37:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

[37:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”

[91:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “confront.”

[91:10]  ¹² tn For this sense of the Hebrew term נגע see Ps 38:11.

[91:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “your tent.”

[109:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”

[112:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition and emotions (see Ps 108:1).

[112:7]  ¹⁶ tn The passive participle בָּטֻחַ [בָּטוּחַ] (batuakh [batuakh]) expresses a state that results from the subject’s action. See Isa 26:3.

[21:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for.”

[21:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).

[21:11]  ¹⁹ sn See Ps 10:2.

[21:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they lack ability.”

[27:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for he will.” The translation assumes the כִּי (ki) is asseverative here, rather than causal.

[27:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he will hide me in his hut.”

[27:5]  ²¹ tn Or “trouble.”

[27:5]  ²² tn Heb “tent.”

[27:5]  ²³ tn The three imperfect verb forms in v. 5 anticipate a positive response to the prayer offered in vv. 7-12.

[27:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “on a rocky summit he lifts me up.” The Lord places the psalmist in an inaccessible place where his enemies cannot reach him. See Ps 18:2.

[38:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”

[41:1]  ²³ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

[41:1]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[41:1]  ²⁵ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

[41:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  ²⁷ tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.

[41:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “together against me they whisper, all those who hate me.” The Hitpael of לָחַשׁ (lakhash) refers here to whispering to one another (see 2 Sam 12:19).

[144:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”

[144:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “harmful.”

[15:3]  ²⁹ sn Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age.

[15:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he does not slander upon his tongue.” For another example of רָגַל (ragal, “slander”) see 2 Sam 19:28.

[15:3]  ³¹ tn Or “his fellow.”

[15:3]  ³² tn Heb “and he does not lift up an insult against one who is near to him.”

[80:1]  ³¹ sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.

[80:1]  ³² tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.

[80:1]  ³³ sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.

[80:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “shine forth.”