Mazmur 80:1

Psalm 80 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ²  a psalm of Asaph.

80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,

you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!

You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, ³  reveal your splendor! ⁴ 

Mazmur 12:1

Psalm 12 ⁵ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ⁶  a psalm of David.

12:1 Deliver, Lord!

For the godly ⁷  have disappeared; ⁸ 

people of integrity ⁹  have vanished. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 34:1

Psalm 34 ¹¹ 

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ¹² 

34:1 I will praise ¹³  the Lord at all times;

my mouth will continually praise him. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 46:1

Psalm 46 ¹⁵ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ¹⁶  a song.

46:1 God is our strong refuge; ¹⁷ 

he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ¹⁸ 

[80:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.

[80:1]  ² tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.

[80:1]  ³ sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.

[80:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “shine forth.”

[80:1]  sn Reveal your splendor. The psalmist may allude to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.

[12:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[12:1]  ⁷ tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[12:1]  ⁸ tn Or “have come to an end.”

[12:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”

[34:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.

[34:1]  ¹² tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”

[34:1]  sn Pretended to be insane. The psalm heading appears to refer to the account in 1 Sam 21:10-15 which tells how David, fearful that King Achish of Gath might kill him, pretended to be insane in hopes that the king would simply send him away. The psalm heading names the king Abimelech, not Achish, suggesting that the tradition is confused on this point. However, perhaps “Abimelech” was a royal title, rather than a proper name. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 278.

[34:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “bless.”

[34:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”

[46:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 46. In this so-called “Song Of Zion” God’s people confidently affirm that they are secure because the great warrior-king dwells within Jerusalem and protects it from the nations that cause such chaos in the earth. A refrain (vv. 7, 11) concludes the song’s two major sections.

[46:1]  ¹⁶ sn The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲלָמוֹת (alamoth, which means “young women”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. Cf. 1 Chr 15:20.

[46:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “our refuge and strength,” which is probably a hendiadys meaning “our strong refuge” (see Ps 71:7). Another option is to translate, “our refuge and source of strength.”

[46:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a helper in times of trouble he is found [to be] greatly.” The perfect verbal form has a generalizing function here. The adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “greatly”) has an emphasizing function.