Psalms 37:39

37:39 But the Lord delivers the godly; ¹ 

he protects them in times of trouble. ² 

Psalms 28:8

28:8 The Lord strengthens his people; ³ 

he protects and delivers his chosen king. ⁴ 

Psalms 27:1

Psalm 27 ⁵ 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ⁶ 

I fear no one! ⁷ 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ⁸ 

Psalms 31:4

31:4 You will free me ⁹  from the net they hid for me,

for you are my place of refuge.

Psalms 43:2

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. ¹⁰ 

Why do you reject me? ¹¹ 

Why must I walk around ¹²  mourning ¹³ 

because my enemies oppress me?

Psalms 52:7

52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make ¹⁴  God his protector!

He trusted in his great wealth

and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” ¹⁵ 

Psalms 60:7

60:7 Gilead belongs to me,

as does Manasseh! ¹⁶ 

Ephraim is my helmet, ¹⁷ 

Judah my royal scepter. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 108:8

108:8 Gilead belongs to me,

as does Manasseh! ¹⁹ 

Ephraim is my helmet, ²⁰ 

Judah my royal scepter. ²¹ 

Psalms 31:2

31:2 Listen to me! ²² 

Quickly deliver me!

Be my protector and refuge, ²³ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ²⁴ 

[37:39]  ¹ tn Heb “and the deliverance of the godly [ones] [is] from the Lord.”

[37:39]  ² tn Heb “[he is] their place of refuge in a time of trouble.”

[28:8]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord [is] strength to them” (or perhaps, “to him”). The form לָמוֹ (lamo, “to them/him”) is probably a corruption of an original לְעַמוֹ (lÿ’amo, “to his people”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 236), perhaps due to quiescence of the letter ayin (ע; see P. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 55). Note the reference to the Lord’s “people” in the next verse.

[28:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “he [is] a refuge of help for his anointed one.” The noun מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh, “anointed one”) refers to the Davidic king, who perhaps speaks as representative of the nation in this psalm. See Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 84:9; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17.

[27:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

[27:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).

[27:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[31:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “bring me out.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form expresses the psalmist’s confidence about the future. Another option is to take the form as expressing a prayer, “free me.”

[43:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

[43:2]  ¹⁰ tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

[43:2]  ¹¹ tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

[43:2]  ¹² sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.

[52:7]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”

[52:7]  ¹² tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).

[60:7]  ¹³ sn Gilead was located east of the Jordan. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.

[60:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the protection of my head.”

[60:7]  ¹⁵ sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.

[108:8]  ¹⁵ tn Gilead was located east of the Jordan River. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.

[108:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the protection of my head.”

[108:8]  ¹⁷ sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan River. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.

[31:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[31:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”

[31:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”