Mazmur 105:15

105:15 saying, ¹  “Don’t touch my chosen ²  ones!

Don’t harm my prophets!”

Mazmur 74:9

74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; ³ 

there are no longer any prophets ⁴ 

and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. ⁵ 

Mazmur 51:1

Psalm 51 ⁶ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ⁷ 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ⁸  your loyal love!

Because of ⁹  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 40:7

40:7 Then I say,

“Look! I come!

What is written in the scroll pertains to me. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 89:19

89:19 Then you ¹²  spoke through a vision to your faithful followers ¹³  and said:

“I have energized a warrior; ¹⁴ 

I have raised up a young man ¹⁵  from the people.

Mazmur 99:6

99:6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests;

Samuel was one of those who prayed to him. ¹⁶ 

They ¹⁷  prayed to the Lord and he answered them.

[105:15]  ¹ tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[105:15]  ² tn Heb “anointed.”

[74:9]  ³ tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).

[74:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”

[74:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”

[51:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.

[51:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ⁸ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ⁹ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”

[40:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the roll of the scroll it is written concerning me.” Apparently the psalmist refers to the law of God (see v. 8), which contains the commandments God desires him to obey. If this is a distinctly royal psalm, then the psalmist/king may be referring specifically to the regulations of kingship prescribed in Deut 17:14-20. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 315.

[89:19]  ¹² tn The pronoun “you” refers to the Lord, who is addressed here. The quotation that follows further develops the announcement of vv. 3-4.

[89:19]  ¹³ tc Many medieval mss read the singular here, “your faithful follower.” In this case the statement refers directly to Nathan’s oracle to David (see 2 Sam 7:17).

[89:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I have placed help upon a warrior.”

[89:19]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps “a chosen one.”

[99:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “among those who called on his name.”

[99:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “those who.” The participle is in apposition to the phrase “those who called on his name” in the preceding line.