Psalms 7:8-9

7:8 The Lord judges the nations. ¹ 

Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, ² 

because I am blameless, ³  O Exalted One! ⁴ 

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ⁵  come to an end! ⁶ 

But make the innocent ⁷  secure, ⁸ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ⁹  inner thoughts and motives! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 43:1

Psalm 43 ¹¹ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ¹²  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ¹³  from deceitful and evil men! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 143:1

Psalm 143 ¹⁵ 

A psalm of David.

143:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my plea for help!

Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!

Psalms 143:11-12

143:11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, ¹⁶  revive me! ¹⁷ 

Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble! ¹⁸ 

143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, ¹⁹  destroy my enemies!

Annihilate ²⁰  all who threaten my life, ²¹ 

for I am your servant.

Daniel 9:16

9:16 O Lord, according to all your justice, ²²  please turn your raging anger ²³  away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. For due to our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people are mocked by all our neighbors.

[7:8]  ¹ sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.

[7:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.

[7:9]  ⁵ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[7:9]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.

[7:9]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ⁹ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[43:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ¹² tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ¹³ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

[143:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

[143:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[143:11]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

[143:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”

[143:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

[143:12]  ²⁰ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.

[143:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”

[9:16]  ²² tn Or “righteousness.”

[9:16]  ²³ tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).