Psalms 9:13

9:13 when they prayed: ¹ 

“Have mercy on me, ²  Lord!

See how I am oppressed by those who hate me, ³ 

O one who can snatch me away ⁴  from the gates of death!

Psalms 14:2

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ⁵  at the human race, ⁶ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ⁷  and seeks God. ⁸ 

Psalms 15:5

15:5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money. ⁹ 

He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent. ¹⁰ 

The one who lives like this ¹¹  will never be upended.

Psalms 27:1

Psalm 27 ¹² 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ¹³ 

I fear no one! ¹⁴ 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ¹⁵ 

Psalms 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ¹⁶ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 32:6

32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers ¹⁸  should pray to you

while there is a window of opportunity. ¹⁹ 

Certainly ²⁰  when the surging water ²¹  rises,

it will not reach them. ²² 

Psalms 50:23

50:23 Whoever presents a thank-offering honors me. ²³ 

To whoever obeys my commands, I will reveal my power to deliver.” ²⁴ 

Psalms 55:19

55:19 God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,

will hear and humiliate them. ²⁵  (Selah)

They refuse to change,

and do not fear God. ²⁶ 

Psalms 63:11

63:11 But the king ²⁷  will rejoice in God;

everyone who takes oaths in his name ²⁸  will boast,

for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. ²⁹ 

Psalms 64:6

64:6 They devise ³⁰  unjust schemes;

they disguise ³¹  a well-conceived plot. ³² 

Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered. ³³ 

Psalms 68:8

68:8 the earth shakes,

yes, the heavens pour down rain

before God, the God of Sinai, ³⁴ 

before God, the God of Israel. ³⁵ 

Psalms 144:2

144:2 who loves me ³⁶  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ³⁷  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ³⁸ 

Psalms 144:14

144:14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. ³⁹ 

No one will break through our walls,

no one will be taken captive,

and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. ⁴⁰ 

[9:13]  ¹ tn The words “when they prayed,” though not represented in the Hebrew text, are supplied in the translation for clarification. The petition in vv. 13-14 is best understood as the cry for help which the oppressed offered to God when the nations threatened. The Lord answered this request, prompting the present song of thanksgiving.

[9:13]  ² tn Or “show me favor.”

[9:13]  ³ tn Heb “see my misery from the ones who hate me.”

[9:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “one who lifts me up.”

[14:2]  ⁵ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ⁷ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ⁸ sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[15:5]  ⁹ sn He does not charge interest. Such an individual is truly generous, and not simply concerned with making a profit.

[15:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a bribe against the innocent he does not take.” For other texts condemning the practice of a judge or witness taking a bribe, see Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19; 27:25; 1 Sam 8:3; Ezek 22:12; Prov 17:23.

[15:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “does these things.”

[27:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

[27:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).

[27:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[30:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

[32:6]  ²¹ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[32:6]  ²² tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the Lord]” and seek his forgiveness (cf. NIV). Some emend the text by combining מְצֹא (mÿtso’, “finding”) with the following term רַק (raq, “only, surely”) and read either ר[וֹ]מָצ (matsor, “distress”; see Ps 31:22) or ק[וֹ]מָצ (matsoq, “hardship”; see Ps 119:143). In this case, one may translate “in a time of distress/hardship” (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[32:6]  ²³ tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.

[32:6]  ²⁴ sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.

[32:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.

[50:23]  ²⁵ sn The reference to a thank-offering recalls the earlier statement made in v. 14. Gratitude characterizes genuine worship.

[50:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and [to one who] sets a way I will show the deliverance of God.” Elsewhere the phrase “set a way” simply means “to travel” (see Gen 30:36; cf. NRSV). The present translation assumes an emendation of וְשָׂם דֶּרֶךְ (vÿsam derekh) to וְשֹׁמֵר דְּרָכַּי (vÿshomer dÿrakhay, “and [the one who] keeps my ways” [i.e., commands, see Pss 18:21; 37:34). Another option is to read וְשֹׁמֵר דַּרְכּוֹ (vÿshomer darko, “and [the one who] guards his way,” i.e., “the one who is careful to follow a godly lifestyle”; see Ps 39:1).

[55:19]  ²⁹ tc Heb “God will hear and answer them, even [the] one who sits [from] ancient times.” The prefixed verbal from with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the anticipatory force of the preceding imperfect. The verb appears to be a Qal form from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). If this reading is retained, the point would be that God “answered” them in judgment. The translation assumes an emendation to the Piel וַיְעַנֵּם (vay’annem; see 2 Kgs 17:20) and understands the root as עָנָה (’anah, “to afflict”; see also 1 Kgs 8:35).

[55:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “[the ones] for whom there are no changes, and they do not fear God.”

[63:11]  ³³ sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.

[63:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”

[63:11]  ³⁵ tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.

[64:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “search out, examine,” which here means (by metonymy) “devise.”

[64:6]  ³⁸ tc The MT has תַּמְנוּ (tamnu, “we are finished”), a Qal perfect first common plural form from the verbal root תָּמַם (tamam). Some understand this as the beginning of a quotation of the enemies’ words and translate, “we have completed,” but the Hiphil would seem to be required in this case. The present translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading טָמְנוּ (tomnu, “they hide”), a Qal perfect third common plural form from the verbal root טָמַן (taman).

[64:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “a searched-out search,” which is understood as referring here to a thoroughly planned plot to destroy the psalmist.

[64:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and the inner part of man, and a heart [is] deep.” The point seems to be that a man’s inner thoughts are incapable of being discovered. No one is a mind reader! Consequently the psalmist is vulnerable to his enemies’ well-disguised plots.

[68:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.

[68:8]  ⁴² sn The language of vv. 7-8 is reminiscent of Judg 5:4-5, which tells how the God of Sinai came in the storm and annihilated the Canaanite forces led by Sisera. The presence of allusion does not mean, however, that this is a purely historical reference. The psalmist is describing God’s typical appearance as a warrior in terms of his prior self-revelation as ancient events are reactualized in the psalmist’s experience. (For a similar literary technique, see Hab 3.)

[144:2]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”

[144:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).

[144:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”