Mazmur 18:39

18:39 You give me strength ¹  for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me. ² 

Mazmur 30:11

30:11 Then you turned my lament into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy. ³ 

Mazmur 116:16

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;

I am your lowest slave. ⁴ 

You saved me from death. ⁵ 

[18:39]  ¹ tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39]  ² tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[18:39]  sn My foes kneel before me. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 268.

[30:11]  ³ sn Covered me with joy. “Joy” probably stands metonymically for festive attire here.

[116:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “I am your servant, the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 86:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

[116:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).