Psalms 95:1

Psalm 95 ¹ 

95:1 Come! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord!

Let’s shout out praises to our protector who delivers us! ² 

Psalms 94:22

94:22 But the Lord will protect me, ³ 

and my God will shelter me. ⁴ 

Psalms 71:3

71:3 Be my protector and refuge, ⁵ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ⁶ 

For you are my high ridge ⁷  and my stronghold.

Psalms 31:2

31:2 Listen to me! ⁸ 

Quickly deliver me!

Be my protector and refuge, ⁹ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ¹⁰ 

[95:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 95. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God as the creator of the world and the nation’s protector, but he also reminds the people not to rebel against God.

[95:1]  ² tn Heb “to the rocky summit of our deliverance.”

[94:22]  ³ tn Heb “and the Lord has become my elevated place.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

[94:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “and my God [has become] a rocky summit of my safety.”

[71:3]  ⁵ tc Heb “become for me a rocky summit of a dwelling place.” The Hebrew term מָעוֹן (ma’on, “dwelling place”) should probably be emended to מָעוֹז (ma’oz, “refuge”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ⁶ tc Heb “to enter continually, you commanded to deliver me.” The Hebrew phrase לָבוֹא תָּמִיד צִוִּיתָ (lavo’ tamid tsivvita, “to enter continually, you commanded”) should be emended to לְבֵית מְצוּדוֹת (lÿvet mÿtsudot, “a house of strongholds”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ⁷ sn You are my high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[31:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[31:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “become for me a rocky summit of refuge.”

[31:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “a house of strongholds to deliver me.”