Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ¹ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ² 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

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 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ⁴  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ⁵ 

I ⁶  refused to be comforted.

[40:17]  ¹ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

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

[77:2]  ⁵ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ⁷ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).