Psalms 61:1-4

Psalm 61 ¹ 

For the music director; to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.

61:1 O God, hear my cry for help!

Pay attention to my prayer!

61:2 From the most remote place on earth ² 

I call out to you in my despair. ³ 

Lead me ⁴  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ⁵ 

61:3 Indeed, ⁶  you are ⁷  my shelter,

a strong tower that protects me from the enemy. ⁸ 

61:4 I will be a permanent guest in your home; ⁹ 

I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. ¹⁰  (Selah)

[61:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 61. The psalmist cries out for help and expresses his confidence that God will protect him.

[61:2]  ² tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).

[61:2]  ³ tn Heb “while my heart faints.”

[61:2]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[61:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”

[61:3]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[61:3]  ⁷ tn Or “have been.”

[61:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “a strong tower from the face of an enemy.”

[61:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will live as a resident alien in your tent permanently.” The cohortative is understood here as indicating resolve. Another option is to take it as expressing a request, “please let me live” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[61:4]  ¹⁰ sn I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.