Psalms 5:11-12

5:11 But may all who take shelter ¹  in you be happy! ² 

May they continually ³  shout for joy! ⁴ 

Shelter them ⁵  so that those who are loyal to you ⁶  may rejoice! ⁷ 

5:12 Certainly ⁸  you reward ⁹  the godly, ¹⁰  Lord.

Like a shield you protect ¹¹  them ¹²  in your good favor. ¹³ 

Psalms 10:12-16

10:12 Rise up, Lord! ¹⁴ 

O God, strike him down! ¹⁵ 

Do not forget the oppressed!

10:13 Why does the wicked man reject God? ¹⁶ 

He says to himself, ¹⁷  “You ¹⁸  will not hold me accountable.” ¹⁹ 

10:14 You have taken notice, ²⁰ 

for ²¹  you always see ²²  one who inflicts pain and suffering. ²³ 

The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; ²⁴ 

you deliver ²⁵  the fatherless. ²⁶ 

10:15 Break the arm ²⁷  of the wicked and evil man!

Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ²⁸ 

which he thought you would not discover. ²⁹ 

10:16 The Lord rules forever! ³⁰ 

The nations are driven out of his land. ³¹ 

Psalms 10:1

Psalm 10 ³² 

10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble? ³³ 

Psalms 17:1

Psalm 17 ³⁴ 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ³⁵ 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ³⁶ 

Psalms 25:1

Psalm 25 ³⁷ 

By David.

25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. ³⁸ 

Psalms 25:1-2

Psalm 25 ³⁹ 

By David.

25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. ⁴⁰ 

25:2 My God, I trust in you.

Please do not let me be humiliated;

do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!

Psalms 19:1

Psalm 19 ⁴¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; ⁴² 

the sky displays his handiwork. ⁴³ 

Psalms 19:1-2

Psalm 19 ⁴⁴ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; ⁴⁵ 

the sky displays his handiwork. ⁴⁶ 

19:2 Day after day it speaks out; ⁴⁷ 

night after night it reveals his greatness. ⁴⁸ 

Psalms 16:9

16:9 So my heart rejoices

and I am happy; ⁴⁹ 

My life is safe. ⁵⁰ 

[5:11]  ¹ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[5:11]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer. The psalmist calls on God to reward his faithful followers.

[5:11]  ³ tn Or perhaps more hyperbolically, “forever.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer.

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “put a cover over them.” The verb form is a Hiphil imperfect from סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “cover, shut off”). The imperfect expresses the psalmist’s wish or request.

[5:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the lovers of your name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to the Lord. See Pss 69:36; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

[5:11]  ⁷ tn The vav (ו) with prefixed verbal form following the volitional “shelter them” indicates purpose or result (“so that those…may rejoice).

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Or “For.”

[5:12]  ⁹ tn Or “bless.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line highlight how God characteristically rewards and protects the godly.

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “innocent.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense.

[5:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “surround.” In 1 Sam 23:26 the verb describes how Saul and his men hemmed David in as they chased him.

[5:12]  ¹² tn Heb “him.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense and is thus translated “them.”

[5:12]  ¹³ tn Or “with favor” (cf. NRSV). There is no preposition before the noun in the Hebrew text, nor is there a pronoun attached. “Favor” here stands by metonymy for God’s defensive actions on behalf of the one whom he finds acceptable.

[10:12]  ¹⁴ sn Rise up, O Lord! The psalmist’s mood changes from lament to petition and confidence.

[10:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lift up your hand.” Usually the expression “lifting the hand” refers to praying (Pss 28:2; 134:2) or making an oath (Ps 106:26), but here it probably refers to “striking a blow” (see 2 Sam 18:28; 20:21). Note v. 15, where the psalmist asks the Lord to “break the arm of the wicked.” A less likely option is that the psalmist is requesting that the Lord declare by oath his intention to intervene.

[10:13]  ¹⁶ tn The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s outrage that the wicked would have the audacity to disdain God.

[10:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he says in his heart” (see vv. 6, 11). Another option is to understand an ellipsis of the interrogative particle here (cf. the preceding line), “Why does he say in his heart?”

[10:13]  ¹⁸ tn Here the wicked man addresses God directly.

[10:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you will not seek.” The verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as generalizing about what is typical and translate, “you do not hold [people] accountable.”

[10:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”

[10:14]  ²¹ tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”

[10:14]  ²² tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.

[10:14]  ²³ tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.

[10:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to give into your hand, upon you, he abandons, [the] unfortunate [one].” The syntax is awkward and the meaning unclear. It is uncertain who or what is being given into God’s hand. Elsewhere the idiom “give into the hand” means to deliver into one’s possession. If “to give” goes with what precedes (as the accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests), then this may refer to the wicked man being delivered over to God for judgment. The present translation assumes that “to give” goes with what follows (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The verb יַעֲזֹב (ya’azov) here has the nuance “entrust” (see Gen 39:6; Job 39:11); the direct object (“[his] cause”) is implied.

[10:14]  ²⁵ tn Or “help.”

[10:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[for] one who is fatherless, you are a deliverer.” The noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9).

[10:15]  ²⁷ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

[10:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

[10:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.

[10:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the Lord is king forever and ever.”

[10:16]  ³¹ tn Or “the nations perish from his land.” The perfect verb form may express what is typical or it may express rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude that God’s deliverance is “as good as done.”

[10:1]  ³² sn Psalm 10. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm. Taken in isolation, Psalm 10 is a petition for help in which the psalmist urges the Lord to deliver him from his dangerous enemies, whom he describes in vivid and terrifying detail. The psalmist concludes with confidence; he is certain that God’s justice will prevail.

[10:1]  ³³ tn Heb “you hide for times in trouble.” The interrogative “why” is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The Hiphil verbal form “hide” has no expressed object. Some supply “your eyes” by ellipsis (see BDB 761 s.v. I עָלַם Hiph and HALOT 835 s.v. I עלם hif) or emend the form to a Niphal (“you hide yourself,” see BHS, note c; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[17:1]  ³⁴ sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.

[17:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

[17:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

[25:1]  ³⁷ sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.

[25:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “to you, O Lord, my life I lift up.” To “lift up” one’s “life” to the Lord means to express one’s trust in him through prayer. See Pss 86:4; 143:8.

[25:1]  ³⁹ sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.

[25:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to you, O Lord, my life I lift up.” To “lift up” one’s “life” to the Lord means to express one’s trust in him through prayer. See Pss 86:4; 143:8.

[19:1]  ⁴¹ sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.

[19:1]  ⁴² sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.

[19:1]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.

[19:1]  ⁴⁴ sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.

[19:1]  ⁴⁵ sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.

[19:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.

[19:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “it gushes forth a word.” The “sky” (see v. 1b) is the subject of the verb. Though not literally speaking (see v. 3), it clearly reveals God’s royal majesty. The sun’s splendor and its movement across the sky is in view (see vv. 4-6).

[19:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “it [i.e., the sky] declares knowledge,” i.e., knowledge about God’s royal majesty and power (see v. 1). This apparently refers to the splendor and movements of the stars. The imperfect verbal forms in v. 2, like the participles in the preceding verse, combine with the temporal phrases (“day after day” and “night after night”) to emphasize the ongoing testimony of the sky.

[16:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “my glory is happy.” Some view the Hebrew term כְּבוֹדִי (kÿvodiy, “my glory”) as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 30:12; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.”

[16:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “yes, my flesh dwells securely.” The psalmist’s “flesh” stands by metonymy for his body and, by extension, his physical life.