Psalms 7:9

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ¹  come to an end! ² 

But make the innocent ³  secure, ⁴ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ⁵  inner thoughts and motives! ⁶ 

Psalms 25:7

25:7 Do not hold against me ⁷  the sins of my youth ⁸  or my rebellious acts!

Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! ⁹ 

Psalms 40:17

40:17 I am oppressed and needy! ¹⁰ 

May the Lord pay attention to me! ¹¹ 

You are my helper and my deliverer!

O my God, do not delay!

Psalms 42:6

42:6 I am depressed, ¹² 

so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, ¹³ 

from Hermon, ¹⁴  from Mount Mizar. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 74:2

74:2 Remember your people ¹⁶  whom you acquired in ancient times,

whom you rescued ¹⁷  so they could be your very own nation, ¹⁸ 

as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

Psalms 79:8

79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! ¹⁹ 

Quickly send your compassion our way, ²⁰ 

for we are in serious trouble! ²¹ 

Psalms 98:3

98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. ²² 

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. ²³ 

Psalms 115:12

115:12 The Lord takes notice of us, ²⁴  he will bless ²⁵  –

he will bless the family ²⁶  of Israel,

he will bless the family of Aaron.

Psalms 137:7

137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell. ²⁷ 

They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, ²⁸ 

right to its very foundation!”

[7:9]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ⁵ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ⁶ 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.

[25:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.

[25:7]  ⁸ sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.

[25:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”

[40:17]  ¹³ sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.

[40:17]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The Lord will pay attention to me” (cf. NRSV). The parallel in Ps 70:5 has, “O God, hurry to me!” For this reason some prefer to emend יַחֲשָׁב (yakhashav, “may he pay attention”) to חוּשָׁה (khushah, “hurry!”). The syntax of the Hebrew text is awkward; elsewhere when the Qal of חָשַׁב (khashav, “reckon; consider”) is collocated with the preposition -ל (lamed) and a pronominal suffix there is an accompanying direct object or additional prepositional phrase/adverbial accusative (see Gen 15:6; 2 Sam 19:19; Job 13:24; 19:11; 33:10; Pss 32:2; 41:7; Amos 6:5).

[42:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my God, upon me my soul bows down.” As noted earlier, “my God” belongs with the end of v. 6.

[42:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan.” “Remember” is here used metonymically for prayer (see vv. 8-9). As the next line indicates, the region of the upper Jordan, where the river originates, is in view.

[42:6]  ²¹ tc Heb “Hermons.” The plural form of the name occurs only here in the OT. Some suggest the plural refers to multiple mountain peaks (cf. NASB) or simply retain the plural in the translation (cf. NEB), but the final mem (ם) is probably dittographic (note that the next form in the text begins with the letter mem) or enclitic. At a later time it was misinterpreted as a plural marker and vocalized accordingly.

[42:6]  ²² tn The Hebrew term מִצְעָר (mits’ar) is probably a proper name (“Mizar”), designating a particular mountain in the Hermon region. The name appears only here in the OT.

[74:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.

[74:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[74:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).

[79:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.

[79:8]  ³² tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.

[79:8]  ³³ tn Heb “for we are very low.”

[98:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

[98:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

[115:12]  ⁴³ tn Or “remembers us.”

[115:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed form of the verb “bless” in vv. 12-13 as a jussive, “may he bless” (see v. 14).

[115:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[137:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

[137:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”