Psalms 38:21

38:21 Do not abandon me, O Lord!

My God, do not remain far away from me!

Psalms 119:121

ע (Ayin)

119:121 I do what is fair and right. ¹ 

Do not abandon me to my oppressors!

Psalms 119:1

Psalm 119 ² 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ³ 

who obey ⁴  the law of the Lord.

Psalms 28:9

28:9 Deliver your people!

Empower ⁵  the nation that belongs to you! ⁶ 

Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms ⁷  at all times! ⁸ 

Jeremiah 32:40

32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ⁹  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ¹⁰  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ¹¹  they will never again turn ¹²  away from me.

Hebrews 13:5

13:5 Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” ¹³ 

[119:121]  ¹ tn Heb “do justice and righteousness.”

[119:1]  ² sn Psalm 119. The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1-8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9-16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17-24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.

[119:1]  ³ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in.”

[28:9]  ⁵ tn Or “bless.”

[28:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.

[28:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”

[28:9]  ⁸ tn Or “forever.”

[32:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ¹⁰ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ¹¹ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ¹² tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[13:5]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Deut 31:6, 8.