Mazmur 28:6-9

28:6 The Lord deserves praise, ¹ 

for he has heard my plea for mercy! ² 

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; ³ 

I trust in him with all my heart. ⁴ 

I am rescued ⁵  and my heart is full of joy; ⁶ 

I will sing to him in gratitude. ⁷ 

28:8 The Lord strengthens his people; ⁸ 

he protects and delivers his chosen king. ⁹ 

28:9 Deliver your people!

Empower ¹⁰  the nation that belongs to you! ¹¹ 

Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms ¹²  at all times! ¹³ 

[28:6]  ¹ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[28:6]  ² sn He has heard my plea for mercy. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes at this point, because the Lord responded positively to his petition and assured him that he would deliver him.

[28:7]  ³ tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

[28:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

[28:7]  ⁵ tn Or “I am helped.”

[28:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

[28:7]  ⁷ 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.

[28:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord [is] strength to them” (or perhaps, “to him”). The form לָמוֹ (lamo, “to them/him”) is probably a corruption of an original לְעַמוֹ (lÿ’amo, “to his people”; see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 236), perhaps due to quiescence of the letter ayin (ע; see P. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 55). Note the reference to the Lord’s “people” in the next verse.

[28:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “he [is] a refuge of help for his anointed one.” The noun מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh, “anointed one”) refers to the Davidic king, who perhaps speaks as representative of the nation in this psalm. See Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 84:9; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17.

[28:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bless.”

[28:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.

[28:9]  ¹² tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”

[28:9]  sn The shepherd metaphor is sometimes associated with royal responsibility. See 2 Sam 5:2; 7:7; Mic 5:2-4).

[28:9]  ¹³ tn Or “forever.”