Mazmur 30:2

30:2 O Lord my God,

I cried out to you and you healed me. ¹ 

Mazmur 106:15

106:15 He granted their request,

then struck them with a disease. ² 

Mazmur 119:147

119:147 I am up before dawn crying for help.

I find hope in your word.

Mazmur 18:41

18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them; ³ 

they cry out to the Lord, ⁴  but he does not answer them.

Mazmur 28:2

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

when I lift my hands ⁵  toward your holy temple! ⁶ 

Mazmur 34:15

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help. ⁷ 

Mazmur 105:40

105:40 They asked for food, ⁸  and he sent quails;

he satisfied them with food from the sky. ⁹ 

Mazmur 104:21

104:21 The lions roar for prey,

seeking their food from God. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 109:10

109:10 May his children ¹¹  roam around begging,

asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! ¹² 

Mazmur 18:6

18:6 In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried out to my God. ¹³ 

From his heavenly temple ¹⁴  he heard my voice;

he listened to my cry for help. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ¹⁶  of the oppressed; ¹⁷ 

he did not ignore him; ¹⁸ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 5:2

5:2 Pay attention to my cry for help,

my king and my God,

for I am praying to you!

Mazmur 66:17

66:17 I cried out to him for help ²⁰ 

and praised him with my tongue. ²¹ 

Mazmur 78:29

78:29 They ate until they were stuffed; ²² 

he gave them what they desired.

Mazmur 106:13

106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; ²³ 

they did not wait for his instructions. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 139:11

139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me, ²⁵ 

and the light will turn to night all around me,” ²⁶ 

Mazmur 147:9

147:9 He gives food to the animals,

and to the young ravens when they chirp. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 40:1

Psalm 40 ²⁸ 

For the music director; By David, a psalm.

40:1 I relied completely ²⁹  on the Lord,

and he turned toward me

and heard my cry for help.

Mazmur 40:4

40:4 How blessed ³⁰  is the one ³¹  who trusts in the Lord ³² 

and does not seek help from ³³  the proud or from liars! ³⁴ 

Mazmur 72:12

72:12 For he will rescue the needy ³⁵  when they cry out for help,

and the oppressed ³⁶  who have no defender.

Mazmur 88:13

88:13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer confronts you.

Mazmur 145:19

145:19 He satisfies the desire ³⁷  of his loyal followers; ³⁸ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

Mazmur 31:22

31:22 I jumped to conclusions and said, ³⁹ 

“I am cut off from your presence!” ⁴⁰ 

But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.

Mazmur 72:17

72:17 May his fame endure! ⁴¹ 

May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky! ⁴² 

May they use his name when they formulate their blessings! ⁴³ 

May all nations consider him to be favored by God! ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 102:1

Psalm 102 ⁴⁵ 

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.

102:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my cry for help! ⁴⁶ 

Mazmur 39:12

39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!

Listen to my cry for help!

Do not ignore my sobbing! ⁴⁷ 

For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;

I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. ⁴⁸ 

[30:2]  ¹ sn You healed me. Apparently the psalmist was plagued by a serious illness that threatened his life. See Ps 41.

[106:15]  ² tn Heb “and he sent leanness into their being.”

[106:15]  sn Disease. See Num 11:33-34, where this plague is described.

[18:41]  ³ tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

[18:41]  ⁴ tn Heb “to the Lord.” The words “they cry out” are supplied in the translation because they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[18:41]  sn They cry out. This reference to the psalmist’s enemies crying out for help to the Lord suggests that the psalmist refers here to enemies within the covenant community, rather than foreigners. However, the militaristic context suggests foreign enemies are in view. Ancient Near Eastern literature indicates that defeated enemies would sometimes cry out for mercy to the god(s) of their conqueror. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 271.

[28:2]  ⁵ sn I lift my hands. Lifting one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer.

[28:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term דְּבִיר (dÿvir, “temple”) actually refers to the most holy place within the sanctuary.

[34:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

[105:40]  ⁸ tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (sha’alu, “they asked”), the vav (ו) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).

[105:40]  ⁹ tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13-15).

[104:21]  ¹⁰ sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.

[109:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “sons.”

[109:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (vÿdoreshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (yÿgoreshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shi’elu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.

[18:6]  ¹³ tn In this poetic narrative context the four prefixed verbal forms in v. 6 are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

[18:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from his temple.” Verse 10, which pictures God descending from the sky, indicates that the heavenly temple is in view, not the earthly one.

[18:6]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “and my cry for help before him came into his ears.” 2 Sam 22:7 has a shorter reading, “my cry for help, in his ears.” It is likely that Ps 18:6 MT as it now stands represents a conflation of two readings: (1) “my cry for help came before him,” (2) “my cry for help came into his ears.” See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 144, n. 13.

[22:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ¹⁷ sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “heard.”

[66:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to him [with] my mouth I called.”

[66:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “and he was extolled under my tongue.” The form רוֹמַם (romam) appears to be a polal (passive) participle from רוּם (rum, “be exalted”), but many prefer to read רוֹמָם, “high praise [was under my tongue]” (cf. NEB). See BDB 928 s.v. רוֹמָם.

[78:29]  ²² tn Heb “and they ate and were very satisfied.”

[106:13]  ²³ tn Heb “his works.”

[106:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his counsel.”

[139:11]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּף (shuf), which means “to crush; to wound,” in Gen 3:15 and Job 9:17, is problematic here. For a discussion of attempts to relate the verb to Arabic roots, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 251. Many emend the form to יְשׂוּכֵּנִי (yesukkeniy), from the root שׂכך (“to cover,” an alternate form of סכך), a reading assumed in the present translation.

[139:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and night, light, around me.”

[147:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “which cry out.”

[40:1]  ²⁸ sn Psalm 40. The psalmist combines a song of thanksgiving for a recent act of divine deliverance (vv. 1-11) with a confident petition for renewed divine intervention (vv. 12-17).

[40:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “relying, I relied.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verbal form to emphasize the verbal idea. The emphasis is reflected in the translation through the adverb “completely.” Another option is to translate, “I waited patiently” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[40:4]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[40:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “man.” See the note on the word “one” in Ps 1:1.

[40:4]  ³² tn Heb “who has made the Lord his [object of] trust.”

[40:4]  ³³ tn Heb “and does not turn toward.”

[40:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “those falling away toward a lie.”

[72:12]  ³⁵ tn The singular is representative. The typical needy individual here represents the entire group.

[72:12]  ³⁶ tn The singular is representative. The typical oppressed individual here represents the entire group.

[145:19]  ³⁷ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”

[31:22]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and I, I said in my haste.”

[31:22]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “from before your eyes.”

[72:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “may his name [be] permanent.” The prefixed verbal form is jussive, not imperfect.

[72:17]  ⁴² tn Heb “before the sun may his name increase.” The Kethib (consonantal text) assumes יָנִין (yanin; a Hiphil of the verbal root נִין, nin) or יְנַיֵן (yÿnayen; a Piel form), while the Qere (marginal reading) assumes יִנּוֹן (yinnon; a Niphal form). The verb נִין occurs only here, though a derived noun, meaning “offspring,” appears elsewhere (see Isa 14:22). The verb appears to mean “propagate, increase” (BDB 630 s.v. נוּן, נִין) or “produce shoots, get descendants” (HALOT 696 s.v. נין). In this context this appears to be a prayer for a lasting dynasty that will keep the king’s name and memory alive.

[72:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “may they bless one another by him,” that is, use the king’s name in their blessing formulae because he is a prime example of one blessed by God (for examples of such blessing formulae, see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11). There is some debate on whether the Hitpael form of בָּרַךְ (barakh, “bless”) is reflexive-reciprocal (as assumed in the present translation) or passive. The Hitpael of בָּרַךְ occurs in five other passages, including the hotly debated Gen 22:18 and 26:4. In these two texts one could understand the verb form as passive and translate, “all the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring,” or one could take the Hitpael as reflexive or reciprocal and translate, “all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings [i.e., on themselves or one another] by your offspring.” In the first instance Abraham’s (or Isaac’s) offspring are viewed as a channel of divine blessing. In the second instance they are viewed as a prime example of blessing that will appear as part of the nations’ blessing formulae, but not necessarily as a channel of blessing to the nations. In Deut 29:18 one reads: “When one hears the words of this covenant [or “oath”] and invokes a blessing on himself (Hitpael of בָּרַךְ) in his heart, saying: ‘I will have peace, even though I walk with a rebellious heart.’” In this case the Hitpael is clearly reflexive, as the phrases “in his heart” and “I will have peace” indicate. The Hitpael of בָּרַךְ appears twice in Isaiah 65:16: “The one who invokes a blessing on himself (see Deut 9:18) in the land will invoke that blessing by the God of truth; and the one who makes an oath in the land will make that oath by the God of truth.” A passive nuance does not fit here. The parallel line, which mentions making an oath, suggests that the Hitpael of בָּרַךְ refers here to invoking a blessing. Both pronouncements of blessing and oaths will appeal to God as the one who rewards and judges, respectively. Jer 4:2 states: “If you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ with truth, integrity, and honesty, then the nations will pronounce blessings by him and boast in him.” A passive nuance might work (“the nations will be blessed”), but the context refers to verbal pronouncements (swearing an oath, boasting), suggesting that the Hitpael of בָּרַךְ refers here to invoking a blessing. The logic of the verse seems to be as follows: If Israel conducts its affairs with integrity, the nation will be favored by the Lord, which will in turn attract the surrounding nations to Israel’s God. To summarize, while the evidence might leave the door open for a passive interpretation, there is no clear cut passive use. Usage favors a reflexive or reciprocal understanding of the Hitpael of בָּרַךְ. In Ps 72:17 the Hitpael of בָּרַךְ is followed by the prepositional phrase בוֹ (vo, “by him”). The verb could theoretically be taken as passive, “may all the nations be blessed through him” (cf. NIV, NRSV), because the preceding context describes the positive effects of this king’s rule on the inhabitants of the earth. But the parallel line, which employs the Piel of אָשַׁר (’ashar) in a factitive/declarative sense, “regard as happy, fortunate,” suggests a reflexive or reciprocal nuance for the Hitpael of בָּרַךְ here. If the nations regard the ideal king as a prime example of one who is fortunate or blessed, it is understandable that they would use his name in their pronouncements of blessing.

[72:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “all the nations, may they regard him as happy.” The Piel is used here in a delocutive sense (“regard as”).

[102:1]  ⁴⁵ sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.

[102:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”

[39:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”

[39:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”

[39:12]  sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.