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 7:1

Psalm 7 ⁶ 

A musical composition ⁷  by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning ⁸  a Benjaminite named Cush. ⁹ 

7:1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. ¹⁰ 

Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

Psalms 28:1

Psalm 28 ¹¹ 

By David.

28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!

My protector, ¹²  do not ignore me! ¹³ 

If you do not respond to me, ¹⁴ 

I will join ¹⁵  those who are descending into the grave. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 28:7

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; ¹⁷ 

I trust in him with all my heart. ¹⁸ 

I am rescued ¹⁹  and my heart is full of joy; ²⁰ 

I will sing to him in gratitude. ²¹ 

Psalms 34:1

Psalm 34 ²² 

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ²³ 

34:1 I will praise ²⁴  the Lord at all times;

my mouth will continually praise him. ²⁵ 

Psalms 40:12

40:12 For innumerable dangers ²⁶  surround me.

My sins overtake me

so I am unable to see;

they outnumber the hairs of my head

so my strength fails me. ²⁷ 

[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.”

[7:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.

[7:1]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.

[7:1]  ⁸ tn Or “on account of.”

[7:1]  ⁹ sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.

[7:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[28:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.

[28:1]  ¹² tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[28:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”

[28:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”

[28:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[28:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[28:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

[28:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

[28:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “I am helped.”

[28:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

[28:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.

[34:1]  ²¹ sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.

[34:1]  ²² tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”

[34:1]  ²³ tn Heb “bless.”

[34:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”

[40:12]  ²⁶ tn Or “sinful deeds.” The Hebrew term used here can have a nonmoral nuance (“dangers”) or a moral one (“sinful deeds”) depending on the context. The next line (see “my sins”) seems to favor the moral sense, but the psalmist also speaks of enemies shortly after this (v. 14).

[40:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and my heart abandons me.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of emotional strength and courage. For a similar idea see Ps 38:10.