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 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ⁶ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ⁷ 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ⁸  in you. ⁹ 

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ¹⁰  down to the deep Pit. ¹¹ 

Violent and deceitful people ¹²  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ¹³ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Psalms 143:8

143:8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ¹⁴ 

for I trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, ¹⁵ 

because I long for you. ¹⁶ 

[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.

[31:19]  ⁶ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

[31:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

[31:19]  ⁸ tn “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 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

[31:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

[55:23]  ¹¹ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

[55:23]  ¹² tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

[55:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

[55:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

[143:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.

[143:8]  ¹⁷ sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).

[143:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (na’as nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).