Mazmur 3:3

3:3 But you, Lord, are a shield that protects me; ¹ 

you are my glory ²  and the one who restores me. ³ 

Mazmur 5:12

5:12 Certainly ⁴  you reward ⁵  the godly, ⁶  Lord.

Like a shield you protect ⁷  them ⁸  in your good favor. ⁹ 

Mazmur 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ¹⁰  my stronghold, ¹¹  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ¹²  I take shelter, ¹³ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ¹⁴  and my refuge. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 28:7

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; ¹⁶ 

I trust in him with all my heart. ¹⁷ 

I am rescued ¹⁸  and my heart is full of joy; ¹⁹ 

I will sing to him in gratitude. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 33:20

33:20 We ²¹  wait for the Lord;

he is our deliverer ²²  and shield. ²³ 

Mazmur 84:11

84:11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ²⁴ 

The Lord bestows favor ²⁵  and honor;

he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 119:114

119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield.

I find hope in your word.

Mazmur 144:2

144:2 who loves me ²⁷  and is my stronghold,

my refuge ²⁸  and my deliverer,

my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,

who makes nations submit to me. ²⁹ 

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “a shield round about me.”

[3:3]  ² tn Heb “my glory,” or “my honor.” The psalmist affirms that the Lord is his source of honor, i.e., the one who gives him honor in the sight of others. According to BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 7, the phrase refers to God as the one to whom the psalmist gives honor. But the immediate context focuses on what God does for the psalmist, not vice-versa.

[3:3]  ³ tn Heb “[the one who] lifts my head.” This phrase could be understood to refer to a general strengthening of the psalmist by God during difficult circumstances. However, if one takes the suggestion of the superscription that this is a Davidic psalm written during the revolt of Absalom, the phrase “lift the head” could refer to the psalmist’s desire for restoration to his former position (cf. Gen 40:13 where the same phrase is used). Like the Hebrew text, the present translation (“who restores me”) can be understood in either sense.

[5:12]  ⁴ tn Or “For.”

[5:12]  ⁵ tn Or “bless.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line highlight how God characteristically rewards and protects the godly.

[5:12]  ⁶ tn Or “innocent.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense.

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “surround.” In 1 Sam 23:26 the verb describes how Saul and his men hemmed David in as they chased him.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “him.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense and is thus translated “them.”

[5:12]  ⁹ tn Or “with favor” (cf. NRSV). There is no preposition before the noun in the Hebrew text, nor is there a pronoun attached. “Favor” here stands by metonymy for God’s defensive actions on behalf of the one whom he finds acceptable.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ sn 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.

[18:2]  ¹¹ sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[18:2]  ¹² tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ¹³ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  sn Though some see “horn” as referring to a horn-shaped peak of a hill, or to the “horns” of an altar where one could find refuge, it is more likely that the horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that uses its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36. Ps 18:2 uses the metaphor of the horn in a slightly different manner. Here the Lord himself is compared to a horn. He is to the psalmist what the horn is to the ox, a source of defense and victory.

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”

[28:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

[28:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

[28:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “I am helped.”

[28:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

[28:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.

[33:20]  ²¹ tn Or “our lives.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being, life”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[33:20]  ²² tn Or “[source of] help.”

[33:20]  ²³ tn Or “protector.”

[84:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[is] a sun and a shield.” The epithet “sun,” though rarely used of Israel’s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.

[84:11]  ²⁵ tn Or “grace.”

[84:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.”

[144:2]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”