Psalms 39:12

39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!

Listen to my cry for help!

Do not ignore my sobbing! ¹ 

For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;

I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. ² 

Psalms 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ³ 

you have taken many captives. ⁴ 

You receive tribute ⁵  from ⁶  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁷ 

[39:12]  ¹ tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”

[39:12]  ² tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”

[68:18]  ³ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ⁵ tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ⁶ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.