Mazmur 118:13

118:13 “You aggressively attacked me ¹  and tried to knock me down, ² 

but the Lord helped me.

Mazmur 124:1-2

Psalm 124 ³ 

A song of ascents, ⁴  by David.

124:1 “If the Lord had not been on our side” –

let Israel say this! –

124:2 if the Lord had not been on our side,

when men attacked us, ⁵ 

Mazmur 125:1

Psalm 125 ⁶ 

A song of ascents. ⁷ 

125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;

it cannot be upended and will endure forever.

Mazmur 142:4-5

142:4 Look to the right and see!

No one cares about me. ⁸ 

I have nowhere to run; ⁹ 

no one is concerned about my life. ¹⁰ 

142:5 I cry out to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my shelter,

my security ¹¹  in the land of the living.”

[118:13]  ¹ tn Heb “pushing, you pushed me.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following verbal idea. The psalmist appears to address the nations as if they were an individual enemy. Some find this problematic and emend the verb form (which is a Qal perfect second masculine singular with a first person singular suffix) to נִדְחֵיתִי (nidkheti), a Niphal perfect first common singular, “I was pushed.”

[118:13]  ² tn Heb “to fall,” i.e., “that [I] might fall.”

[124:1]  ³ sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.

[124:1]  ⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[124:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “rose up against us.”

[125:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 125. The psalmist affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection and justice.

[125:1]  ⁷ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[142:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”

[142:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”

[142:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”

[142:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.