Mazmur 19:14

19:14 May my words and my thoughts

be acceptable in your sight, ¹ 

O Lord, my sheltering rock ²  and my redeemer. ³ 

Mazmur 20:2

20:2 May he send you help from his temple; ⁴ 

from Zion may he give you support!

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 28:4

28:4 Pay them back for their evil deeds!

Pay them back for what they do!

Punish them! ⁵ 

Mazmur 36:11

36:11 Do not let arrogant men overtake me,

or let evil men make me homeless! ⁶ 

Mazmur 39:4

39:4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality

and the brevity of life! ⁷ 

Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! ⁸ 

Mazmur 51:16

51:16 Certainly ⁹  you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; ¹⁰ 

you do not desire a burnt sacrifice. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 79:8

79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! ¹² 

Quickly send your compassion our way, ¹³ 

for we are in serious trouble! ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 80:14

80:14 O God, invincible warrior, ¹⁵  come back!

Look down from heaven and take notice!

Take care of this vine,

Mazmur 86:2

86:2 Protect me, ¹⁶  for I am loyal!

O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Mazmur 119:149

119:149 Listen to me ¹⁷  because of ¹⁸  your loyal love!

O Lord, revive me, as you typically do! ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 119:159

119:159 See how I love your precepts!

O Lord, revive me with your loyal love!

Mazmur 139:8

139:8 If I were to ascend ²⁰  to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. ²¹ 

[19:14]  ¹ tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”

[19:14]  ² tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[19:14]  ³ tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.

[20:2]  ⁴ tc Heb “from [the] temple.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix (ן, nun) has probably been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word begins with a prefixed vav (ו). See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 184.

[28:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “Give to them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds. According to the work of their hands give to them. Return their due to them.” The highly repetitive style reflects the psalmist’s agitated emotional state and draws attention to his yearning for justice.

[36:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “let not a foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of the evil ones cause me to wander as a fugitive.”

[39:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “Cause me to know, O Lord, my end; and the measure of my days, what it is!”

[39:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Let me know how transient I am!”

[51:16]  ⁹ tn Or “For.” The translation assumes the particle is asseverative (i.e., emphasizing: “certainly”). (Some translations that consider the particle asseverative leave it untranslated.) If taken as causal or explanatory (“for”, cf. NRSV), the verse would explain why the psalmist is pleading for forgiveness, rather than merely offering a sacrifice.

[51:16]  ¹⁰ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative is used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “You do not want a sacrifice, should I offer [it]” (cf. NEB). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortative is part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.)

[51:16]  ¹¹ sn You do not desire a burnt sacrifice. The terminology used in v. 16 does not refer to expiatory sacrifices, but to dedication and communion offerings. This is not a categorical denial of the sacrificial system in general or of the importance of such offerings. The psalmist is talking about his specific situation. Dedication and communion offerings have their proper place in worship (see v. 19), but God requires something more fundamental, a repentant and humble attitude (see v. 17), before these offerings can have real meaning.

[79:8]  ¹² tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.

[79:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.

[79:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for we are very low.”

[80:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “O God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9), but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot) in Pss 59:5 and 84:8 as well. See also vv. 4, 7 for a similar construction.

[86:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my life.”

[119:149]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my voice.”

[119:149]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “according to.”

[119:149]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to your custom.”

[139:8]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).

[139:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “look, you.”