Mazmur 39:1

Psalm 39 ¹ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ²  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ³ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ⁴ 

Mazmur 62:1

Psalm 62 ⁵ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

62:1 For God alone I patiently wait; ⁶ 

he is the one who delivers me. ⁷ 

Mazmur 77:1

Psalm 77 ⁸ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.

77:1 I will cry out to God ⁹  and call for help!

I will cry out to God and he will pay attention ¹⁰  to me.

[39:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ² tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ³ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ⁴ sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[62:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 62. The psalmist expresses his unwavering confidence in God’s justice and in his ability to protect his people.

[62:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “only for God [is] there silence [to] my soul.”

[62:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “from him [is] my deliverance.”

[77:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.

[77:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.

[77:1]  ¹⁰ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).