Psalms 4:1

Psalm 4 ¹ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ² 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ³ 

Have mercy on me ⁴  and respond to ⁵  my prayer!

Psalms 18:19

18:19 He brought me out into a wide open place;

he delivered me because he was pleased with me. ⁶ 

Job 36:16

36:16 And surely, he drew you ⁷  from the mouth of distress,

to a wide place, unrestricted, ⁸ 

and to the comfort ⁹  of your table

filled with rich food. ¹⁰ 

[4:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “hear.”

[18:19]  ⁶ tn Or “delighted in me.”

[36:16]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb means “to entice; to lure; to allure; to seduce,” but these have negative connotations. The English “to persuade; to draw” might work better. The verb is the Hiphil perfect of סוּת (sut). But the nuance of the verb is difficult. It can be equivalent to an English present expressing what God is doing (Peake). But the subject is contested as well. Since the verb usually has an evil connotation, there have been attempts to make the “plaza” the subject – “the wide place has led you astray” (Ewald).

[36:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “a broad place where there is no cramping beneath [or under] it.”

[36:16]  ⁹ tn The word נַחַת (nakhat) could be translated “set” if it is connected with the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest,” but then “to lay to rest, to set”). Kissane translates it “comfort.” Dhorme thinks it could come from נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) or נָחַת (nakhat, “to descend”). But his conclusion is that it is a dittography after “under it” (p. 545).

[36:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “filled with fat.”