Psalms 56:1-2

Psalm 56 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ⁴ 

56:1 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ⁵ 

All day long hostile enemies ⁶  are tormenting me. ⁷ 

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ⁸  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ⁹  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 57:1

Psalm 57 ¹¹ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ¹²  a prayer ¹³  of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. ¹⁴ 

57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter. ¹⁵ 

In the shadow of your wings ¹⁶  I take shelter

until trouble passes.

Psalms 69:13-16

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ¹⁷ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ¹⁸ 

69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!

Deliver me ¹⁹  from those who hate me,

from the deep water!

69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!

Don’t let the deep swallow me up!

Don’t let the pit ²⁰  devour me! ²¹ 

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ²² 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

Luke 18:11-13

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ²³  ‘God, I thank ²⁴  you that I am not like other people: ²⁵  extortionists, ²⁶  unrighteous people, ²⁷  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ²⁸  18:12 I fast twice ²⁹  a week; I give a tenth ³⁰  of everything I get.’ 18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ³¹  far off and would not even look up ³²  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ³³  to me, sinner that I am!’ ³⁴ 

[56:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 56. Despite the threats of his enemies, the psalmist is confident the Lord will keep his promise to protect and deliver him.

[56:1]  ² tn The literal meaning of this phrase is “silent dove, distant ones.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a type of musical instrument.

[56:1]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16 and 57-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[56:1]  ⁴ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm when the Philistines seized him and took him to King Achish of Gath (see 1 Sam 21:11-15).

[56:1]  ⁵ tn According to BDB 983 s.v. II שָׁאַף, the verb is derived from שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to trample, crush”) rather than the homonymic verb “pant after.”

[56:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “a fighter.” The singular is collective for his enemies (see vv. 5-6). The Qal of לָחַם (lakham, “fight”) also occurs in Ps 35:1.

[56:1]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the continuing nature of the enemies’ attacks.

[56:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ⁹ tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ¹⁰ tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[57:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.

[57:1]  ¹² tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.

[57:1]  ¹³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[57:1]  ¹⁴ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.

[57:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[57:1]  ¹⁶ sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).

[69:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

[69:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “let me be delivered.”

[69:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).

[69:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”

[69:16]  ²² tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[18:11]  ²³ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ²⁴ sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ²⁵ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ²⁶ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ²⁷ sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ²⁸ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[18:12]  ²⁹ sn The law only required fasting on the Day of Atonement. Such voluntary fasting as this practiced twice a week by the Pharisee normally took place on Monday and Thursday.

[18:12]  ³⁰ tn Or “I tithe.”

[18:13]  ³¹ tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

[18:13]  ³² tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

[18:13]  ³³ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

[18:13]  ³⁴ tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.