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 5:2

5:2 Pay attention to my cry for help,

my king and my God,

for I am praying to you!

Psalms 130:2-4

130:2 O Lord, listen to me! ⁶ 

Pay attention to ⁷  my plea for mercy!

130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of ⁸  sins,

O Lord, who could stand before you? ⁹ 

130:4 But ¹⁰  you are willing to forgive, ¹¹ 

so that you might ¹²  be honored. ¹³ 

Psalms 143:1-2

Psalm 143 ¹⁴ 

A psalm of David.

143:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my plea for help!

Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ¹⁵  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ¹⁶ 

[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.”

[130:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “my voice.”

[130:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “may your ears be attentive to the voice of.”

[130:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “observe.”

[130:3]  ⁹ tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”

[130:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “surely.”

[130:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for with you [there is] forgiveness.”

[130:4]  ¹² tn Or “consequently you are.”

[130:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “feared.”

[143:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

[143:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”