Psalms 49:15

Context

49:15 But¹ God will rescue² my life³ from the power⁴ of Sheol;

certainly⁵ he will pull me to safety.⁶ (Selah)

Psalms 49:17

Context

49:17 For he will take nothing with him when he dies;

his wealth will not follow him down into the grave.⁷

Psalms 51:11

Context

51:11 Do not reject me!⁸

Do not take your Holy Spirit⁹ away from me!¹⁰

[49:15] ¹tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15] ²tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15] ³tn Or “me.” 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).

[49:15] ⁴tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15] ⁵tn Or “for.”

[49:15] ⁶tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[49:17] ⁷tn Heb “his glory will not go down after him.”

[51:11] ¹³tn Heb “do not cast me away from before you.”

[51:11] ¹⁴sn Your Holy Spirit. The personal Spirit of God is mentioned frequently in the OT, but only here and in Isa 63:10-11 is he called “your/his Holy Spirit.”

[51:11] ¹⁵sn Do not take…away. The psalmist expresses his fear that, due to his sin, God will take away the Holy Spirit from him. NT believers enjoy the permanent gift of the Holy Spirit and need not make such a request nor fear such a consequence. However, in the OT God’s Spirit empowered certain individuals for special tasks and only temporarily resided in them. For example, when God rejected Saul as king and chose David to replace him, the divine Spirit left Saul and came upon David (1 Sam 16:13-14).