Psalms 4:8

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, ¹ 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. ² 

Psalms 29:11

29:11 The Lord gives ³  his people strength; ⁴ 

the Lord grants his people security. ⁵ 

Psalms 35:20

35:20 For they do not try to make peace with others, ⁶ 

but plan ways to deceive those who are unsuspecting. ⁷ 

Psalms 35:27

35:27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice!

May they continually say, ⁸  “May the Lord be praised, ⁹  for he wants his servant to be secure.” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 38:3

38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment; ¹¹ 

I am deprived of health because of my sin. ¹² 

Psalms 41:9

41:9 Even my close friend ¹³  whom I trusted,

he who shared meals with me, has turned against me. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 55:18

55:18 He will rescue ¹⁵  me and protect me from those who attack me, ¹⁶ 

even though ¹⁷  they greatly outnumber me. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 125:5

125:5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path, ¹⁹ 

may the Lord remove them, ²⁰  along with those who behave wickedly! ²¹ 

May Israel experience peace! ²² 

[4:8]  ¹ tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

[4:8]  ² tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”

[29:11]  ³ tn The imperfect verbal forms in v. 11 are either descriptive or generalizing.

[29:11]  ⁴ sn Strength. This probably refers to military power; see the use of the noun in 1 Sam 2:10 and Ps 86:16.

[29:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “blesses his people with peace.” The Hebrew term שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) probably refers here to the protection and prosperity experienced by God’s people after the Lord intervenes in battle on their behalf.

[35:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “for they do not speak peace.”

[35:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “but against the quiet ones of the land words of deceit they plan.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 20 highlight their characteristic behavior.

[35:27]  ⁷ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27a are understood as jussives (see vv. 24b-26).

[35:27]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great.”

[35:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “the one who desires the peace of his servant.”

[38:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.

[38:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”

[41:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “man of my peace.” The phrase here refers to one’s trusted friend (see Jer 38:22; Obad 7).

[41:9]  ¹² tn Heb “has made a heel great against me.” The precise meaning of this phrase, which appears only here, is uncertain.

[55:18]  ¹³ tn The perfect verbal form is here used rhetorically to indicate that the action is certain to take place (the so-called perfect of certitude).

[55:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he will redeem in peace my life from [those who] draw near to me.”

[55:18]  ¹⁵ tn Or “for.”

[55:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “among many they are against me.” For other examples of the preposition עִמָּד (’immad) used in the sense of “at, against,” see HALOT 842 s.v.; BDB 767 s.v.; IBHS 219 §11.2.14b.

[125:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the ones making their paths twisted.” A sinful lifestyle is compared to a twisting, winding road.

[125:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lead them away.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer here (note the prayers directly before and after this). Another option is to translate, “the Lord will remove them” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[125:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.”

[125:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 122:8 for a similar prayer for peace).