Mazmur 11:1

Psalm 11 ¹ 

For the music director; by David.

11:1 In the Lord I have taken shelter. ² 

How can you say to me, ³ 

“Flee to a mountain like a bird! ⁴ 

Mazmur 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ⁵  my stronghold, ⁶  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ⁷  I take shelter, ⁸ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁹  and my refuge. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 25:2

25:2 My God, I trust in you.

Please do not let me be humiliated;

do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!

Mazmur 26:1

Psalm 26 ¹¹ 

By David.

26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have integrity, ¹² 

and I trust in the Lord without wavering.

Mazmur 31:1

Psalm 31 ¹³ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

31:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

Vindicate me by rescuing me! ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 32:10

32:10 An evil person suffers much pain, ¹⁵ 

but the Lord’s faithfulness overwhelms the one who trusts in him. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 146:3-6

146:3 Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver! ¹⁷ 

146:4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground;

on that day their plans die. ¹⁸ 

146:5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

146:6 the one who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who remains forever faithful, ¹⁹ 

[11:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 11. The psalmist rejects the advice to flee from his dangerous enemies. Instead he affirms his confidence in God’s just character and calls down judgment on evildoers.

[11:1]  ² tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[11:1]  ³ tn The pronominal suffix attached to נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is equivalent to a personal pronoun. See Ps 6:3.

[11:1]  ⁴ tc The MT is corrupt here. The Kethib (consonantal text) reads: “flee [masculine plural!] to your [masculine plural!] mountain, bird.” The Qere (marginal reading) has “flee” in a feminine singular form, agreeing grammatically with the addressee, the feminine noun “bird.” Rather than being a second masculine plural pronominal suffix, the ending כֶם- (-khem) attached to “mountain” is better interpreted as a second feminine singular pronominal suffix followed by an enclitic mem (ם). “Bird” may be taken as vocative (“O bird”) or as an adverbial accusative of manner (“like a bird”). Either way, the psalmist’s advisers compare him to a helpless bird whose only option in the face of danger is to fly away to an inaccessible place.

[18:2]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[26:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.

[26:1]  ¹² tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”

[31:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 31. The psalmist confidently asks the Lord to protect him. Enemies threaten him and even his friends have abandoned him, but he looks to the Lord for vindication. In vv. 19-24, which were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18, the psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him.

[31:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me.”

[32:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “many [are the] pains of evil [one].” The singular form is representative here; the typical evildoer, representative of the larger group of wicked people, is in view.

[32:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “but the one who trusts in the Lord, faithfulness surrounds him.”

[146:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”

[146:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his spirit goes out, it returns to his ground; in that day his plans die.” The singular refers to the representative man mentioned in v. 3b.

[146:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”