Psalms 73:11

73:11 They say, “How does God know what we do?

Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” ¹ 

Psalms 73:19

73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! ² 

Psalms 137:4

137:4 How can we sing a song to the Lord

in a foreign land?

Psalms 11:1

Psalm 11 ³ 

For the music director; by David.

11:1 In the Lord I have taken shelter. ⁴ 

How can you say to me, ⁵ 

“Flee to a mountain like a bird! ⁶ 

[73:11]  ¹ tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).

[73:19]  ² tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”

[11:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[11:1]  ⁵ tn The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.

[11:1]  ⁶ 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.