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 69:6

69:6 Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me,

O sovereign Lord and king! ³ 

Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me,

O God of Israel!

Psalms 77:1

Psalm 77 ⁴ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.

77:1 I will cry out to God ⁵  and call for help!

I will cry out to God and he will pay attention ⁶  to me.

Psalms 84:2

84:2 I desperately want to be ⁷ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ⁸ 

My heart and my entire being ⁹  shout for joy

to the living God.

Psalms 142:1

Psalm 142 ¹⁰ 

A well-written song ¹¹  by David, when he was in the cave; ¹²  a prayer.

142:1 To the Lord I cry out; ¹³ 

to the Lord I plead for mercy. ¹⁴ 

[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.”

[69:6]  ³ tn Heb “O Master, Lord of hosts.” Both titles draw attention to God’s sovereign position.

[77:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.

[77:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.

[77:1]  ⁷ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).

[84:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[142:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

[142:1]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[142:1]  ¹¹ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.

[142:1]  ¹² tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I cry out.”

[142:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I plead for mercy.”