Psalms 71:1

Psalm 71 ¹ 

71:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

Psalms 16:1

Psalm 16 ² 

A prayer ³  of David.

16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. ⁴ 

Psalms 25:20

25:20 Protect me ⁵  and deliver me!

Please do not let me be humiliated,

for I have taken shelter in you!

Psalms 11:1

Psalm 11 ⁶ 

For the music director; by David.

11:1 In the Lord I have taken shelter. ⁷ 

How can you say to me, ⁸ 

“Flee to a mountain like a bird! ⁹ 

Psalms 31:1

Psalm 31 ¹⁰ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

31:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

Vindicate me by rescuing me! ¹¹ 

Psalms 141:8

141:8 Surely I am looking to you, ¹²  O sovereign Lord.

In you I take shelter.

Do not expose me to danger! ¹³ 

Psalms 144:2

144:2 who loves me ¹⁴  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ¹⁵  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 7:1

Psalm 7 ¹⁷ 

A musical composition ¹⁸  by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning ¹⁹  a Benjaminite named Cush. ²⁰ 

7:1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. ²¹ 

Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

[71:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 71. The psalmist prays for divine intervention and expresses his confidence that God will protect and vindicate him. The first three verses are very similar to Ps 31:1-3a.

[16:1]  ² sn Psalm 16. The psalmist seeks divine protection because he has remained loyal to God. He praises God for his rich blessings, and is confident God will vindicate him and deliver him from death.

[16:1]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[16:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).

[25:20]  ³ tn Or “my life.”

[11:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 11. The psalmist rejects the advice to flee from his dangerous enemies. Instead he affirms his confidence in God’s just character and calls down judgment on evildoers.

[11:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[11:1]  ⁶ tn The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.

[11:1]  ⁷ tc The MT is corrupt here. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads: “flee [masculine plural!] to your [masculine plural!] mountain, bird.” The Qere (marginal reading) has “flee” in a feminine singular form, agreeing grammatically with the addressee, the feminine noun “bird.” Rather than being a second masculine plural pronominal suffix, the ending כֶם- (-khem) attached to “mountain” is better interpreted as a second feminine singular pronominal suffix followed by an enclitic mem (ם). “Bird” may be taken as vocative (“O bird”) or as an adverbial accusative of manner (“like a bird”). Either way, the psalmist’s advisers compare him to a helpless bird whose only option in the face of danger is to fly away to an inaccessible place.

[31:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.

[31:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”

[141:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “my eyes [are] toward you.”

[141:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not lay bare my life.” Only here is the Piel form of the verb collocated with the term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”). In Isa 53:12 the Lord’s servant “lays bare (the Hiphil form of the verb is used) his life to death.”

[144:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).

[144:2]  ⁸ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”

[7:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “on account of.”

[7:1]  ¹¹ sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.

[7:1]  ¹² tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.