Psalms 7:1

Psalm 7 ¹ 

A musical composition ²  by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning ³  a Benjaminite named Cush. ⁴ 

7:1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. ⁵ 

Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

Psalms 22:1

Psalm 22 ⁶ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ⁷  a psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ⁸ 

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ⁹ 

Psalms 28:3

28:3 Do not drag me away with evil men,

with those who behave wickedly, ¹⁰ 

who talk so friendly to their neighbors, ¹¹ 

while they plan to harm them! ¹² 

[7:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.

[7:1]  ² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.

[7:1]  ³ tn Or “on account of.”

[7:1]  ⁴ sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.

[7:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[22:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

[22:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

[22:1]  ⁸ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

[22:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.

[28:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”

[28:3]  ¹² tn Heb “speakers of peace with their neighbors.”

[28:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and evil [is] in their heart[s].”