Mazmur 19:13

19:13 Moreover, keep me from committing flagrant ¹  sins;

do not allow such sins to control me. ² 

Then I will be blameless,

and innocent of blatant ³  rebellion.

Mazmur 70:2

70:2 May those who are trying to take my life

be embarrassed and ashamed! ⁴ 

May those who want to harm me

be turned back and ashamed! ⁵ 

Mazmur 79:10

79:10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants

be avenged among the nations! ⁶ 

Mazmur 141:4-5

141:4 Do not let me have evil desires, ⁷ 

or participate in sinful activities

with men who behave wickedly. ⁸ 

I will not eat their delicacies. ⁹ 

141:5 May the godly strike me in love and correct me!

May my head not refuse ¹⁰  choice oil! ¹¹ 

Indeed, my prayer is a witness against their evil deeds. ¹² 

[19:13]  ¹ tn Or “presumptuous.”

[19:13]  ² tn Heb “let them not rule over me.”

[19:13]  ³ tn Heb “great.”

[70:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “may they be embarrassed and ashamed, the ones seeking my life.” Ps 40:14 has “together” after “ashamed,” and “to snatch it away” after “my life.”

[70:2]  ⁵ tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist is calling judgment down on his enemies.

[70:2]  sn See Ps 35:4 for a similar prayer.

[79:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “may it be known among the nations, to our eyes, the vengeance of the shed blood of your servants.”

[141:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not turn my heart toward an evil thing.”

[141:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “to act sinfully in practices in wickedness with men, doers of evil.”

[141:4]  ⁹ sn Their delicacies. This probably refers to the enjoyment that a sinful lifestyle appears to offer.

[141:5]  ¹⁰ tn The form יָנִי (yaniy) appears to be derived from the verbal root נוּא (nu’). Another option is to emend the form to יְנָא (yÿna’), a Piel from נָאָה (na’ah), and translate “may choice oil not adorn my head” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 271). In this case, choice oil, like delicacies in v. 4, symbolize the pleasures of sin.

[141:5]  ¹¹ sn May my head not refuse choice oil. The psalmist compares the constructive criticism of the godly (see the previous line) to having refreshing olive oil poured over one’s head.

[141:5]  ¹² tc Heb “for still, and my prayer [is] against their evil deeds.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult; the sequence -כִּי־עוֹד וּ (kiy-’od u-, “for still and”) occurs only here. The translation assumes an emendation to כִּי עֵד תְפלָּתִי (“indeed a witness [is] my prayer”). The psalmist’s lament about the evil actions of sinful men (see v. 4) testifies against the wicked in the divine court.