Mazmur 21:7

21:7 For the king trusts ¹  in the Lord,

and because of the sovereign Lord’s ²  faithfulness he is not upended. ³ 

Mazmur 37:31

37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking; ⁴ 

their ⁵  feet do not slip.

Mazmur 62:2

62:2 He alone is my protector ⁶  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ⁷  I will not be upended. ⁸ 

Mazmur 62:6

62:6 He alone is my protector ⁹  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ¹⁰  I will not be upended. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 94:18

94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”

your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.

Mazmur 121:3

121:3 May he not allow your foot to slip!

May your protector ¹²  not sleep! ¹³ 

Mazmur 121:7-8

121:7 The Lord will protect you from all harm;

he will protect your life.

121:8 The Lord will protect you in all you do, ¹⁴ 

now and forevermore.

[21:7]  ¹ tn The active participle draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action.

[21:7]  ² tn Traditionally “the Most High’s.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. Note the focus of vv. 8-12 and see Ps 47:2.

[21:7]  ³ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “he will not be upended” (cf. NRSV “he shall not be moved”). Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense.

[37:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “the law of his God [is] in his heart.” The “heart” is here the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[37:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “his.” The pronoun has been translated as plural to agree with the representative or typical “godly” in v. 30.

[62:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:2]  ⁷ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:2]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) at the end of the line. It is unusual for this adverb to follow a negated verb. Some see this as qualifying the assertion to some degree, but this would water down the affirmation too much (see v. 6b, where the adverb is omitted). If the adverb has a qualifying function, it would suggest that the psalmist might be upended, though not severely. This is inconsistent with the confident mood of the psalm. The adverb probably has an emphatic force here, “I will not be greatly upended” meaning “I will not be annihilated.”

[62:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:6]  ¹¹ sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.

[121:3]  ¹² tn Heb “the one who guards you.”

[121:3]  ¹³ tn The prefixed verbal forms following the negative particle אל appear to be jussives. As noted above, if they are taken as true jussives of prayer, then the speaker in v. 3 would appear to be distinct from both the speaker in vv. 1-2 and the speaker in vv. 4-8. However, according to GKC 322 §109.e), the jussives are used rhetorically here “to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one should probably translate, “he will not allow your foot to slip, your protector will not sleep,” and understand just one speaker in vv. 4-8.

[121:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.”