Psalms 35:13

35:13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, ¹ 

and refrained from eating food. ² 

(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered!) ³ 

Psalms 42:8

42:8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, ⁴ 

and by night he gives me a song, ⁵ 

a prayer ⁶  to the living God.

Psalms 55:1

Psalm 55 ⁷ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ⁸  by David.

55:1 Listen, O God, to my prayer!

Do not ignore ⁹  my appeal for mercy!

Psalms 61:1

Psalm 61 ¹⁰ 

For the music director; to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.

61:1 O God, hear my cry for help!

Pay attention to my prayer!

Psalms 80:4

80:4 O Lord God, invincible warrior! ¹¹ 

How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? ¹² 

Psalms 84:8

84:8 O Lord, sovereign God, ¹³ 

hear my prayer!

Listen, O God of Jacob! (Selah)

Psalms 86:1

Psalm 86 ¹⁴ 

A prayer of David.

86:1 Listen ¹⁵  O Lord! Answer me!

For I am oppressed and needy.

Psalms 90:1

Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90 ¹⁶ 

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90:1 O Lord, you have been our protector ¹⁷  through all generations!

Psalms 143:1

Psalm 143 ¹⁸ 

A psalm of David.

143:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my plea for help!

Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!

[35:13]  ¹ tn Heb “as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.” Sackcloth was worn by mourners. When the psalmist’s enemies were sick, he was sorry for their misfortune and mourned for them.

[35:13]  ² sn Fasting was also a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities, such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[35:13]  ³ tn Heb “and my prayer upon my chest will return.” One could translate, “but my prayer was returning upon my chest,” but the use of the imperfect verbal form sets this line apart from the preceding and following lines (vv. 13a, 14), which use the perfect to describe the psalmist’s past actions.

[42:8]  ⁴ sn The psalmist believes that the Lord has not abandoned him, but continues to extend his loyal love. To this point in the psalm, the author has used the name “God,” but now, as he mentions the divine characteristic of loyal love, he switches to the more personal divine name Yahweh (rendered in the translation as “the Lord”).

[42:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “his song [is] with me.”

[42:8]  ⁶ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss read תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) instead of תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”).

[55:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies.

[55:1]  ⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[55:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “hide yourself from.”

[61:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 61. The psalmist cries out for help and expresses his confidence that God will protect him.

[80:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “Lord, God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי (’elohey) before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot; “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. In this context the term “hosts” (meaning “armies”) has been rendered “invincible warrior.”

[80:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.

[84:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Lord, God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9) but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת in Pss 59:5 and 80:4, 19 as well.

[86:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 86. The psalmist appeals to God’s mercy as he asks for deliverance from his enemies.

[86:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “turn your ear.”

[90:1]  ²² sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.

[90:1]  ²³ tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.

[143:1]  ²⁵ sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.