Mazmur 27:11

27:11 Teach me how you want me to live; ¹ 

lead me along a level path ²  because of those who wait to ambush me! ³ 

Mazmur 28:2

28:2 Hear my plea for mercy when I cry out to you for help,

when I lift my hands ⁴  toward your holy temple! ⁵ 

Mazmur 86:16

86:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me!

Give your servant your strength!

Deliver your slave! ⁶ 

[27:11]  ¹ tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles which he expects the psalmist to follow. See Ps 25:4.

[27:11]  ² sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).

[27:11]  ³ tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.

[28:2]  ⁴ sn I lift my hands. Lifting one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer.

[28:2]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term דְּבִיר (dÿvir, “temple”) actually refers to the most holy place within the sanctuary.

[86:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 116:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.