Psalms 55:4

55:4 My heart beats violently ¹  within me;

the horrors of death overcome me. ² 

Psalms 55:11

55:11 Disaster is within it;

violence ³  and deceit do not depart from its public square.

Psalms 74:4

74:4 Your enemies roar ⁴  in the middle of your sanctuary; ⁵ 

they set up their battle flags. ⁶ 

Psalms 74:11-12

74:11 Why do you remain inactive?

Intervene and destroy him! ⁷ 

74:12 But God has been my ⁸  king from ancient times,

performing acts of deliverance on the earth. ⁹ 

Psalms 109:18

109:18 He made cursing a way of life, ¹⁰ 

so curses poured into his stomach like water

and seeped into his bones like oil. ¹¹ 

Psalms 109:22

109:22 For I am oppressed and needy,

and my heart beats violently within me. ¹² 

Psalms 110:2

110:2 The Lord ¹³  extends ¹⁴  your dominion ¹⁵  from Zion.

Rule in the midst of your enemies!

Psalms 147:13

147:13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.

He blesses your children ¹⁶  within you.

[55:4]  ¹ tn Heb “shakes, trembles.”

[55:4]  ² tn Heb “the terrors of death have fallen on me.”

[55:11]  ³ tn Or “injury, harm.”

[74:4]  ⁵ tn This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.

[74:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “your meeting place.”

[74:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).

[74:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.

[74:12]  ⁹ tn The psalmist speaks as Israel’s representative here.

[74:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the midst of the earth.”

[109:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”

[109:18]  ¹² tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”

[109:22]  ¹³ tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbiy yakhil bÿqirbbiy, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).

[110:2]  ¹⁵ tn Since the Lord is mentioned in the third person (note the use of the first person in v. 1), it is likely that these are the psalmist’s words to the king, not a continuation of the oracle per se.

[110:2]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though it could be taken as future.

[110:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your strong scepter,” symbolic of the king’s royal authority and dominion.

[147:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your sons.”