Mazmur 4:1

Psalm 4 ¹ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ² 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ³ 

Have mercy on me ⁴  and respond to ⁵  my prayer!

Mazmur 16:1

Psalm 16 ⁶ 

A prayer ⁷  of David.

16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. ⁸ 

Mazmur 35:23

35:23 Rouse yourself, wake up ⁹  and vindicate me! ¹⁰ 

My God and Lord, defend my just cause! ¹¹ 

Mazmur 38:22

38:22 Hurry and help me, ¹²  O Lord, my deliverer!

Mazmur 51:9

51:9 Hide your face ¹³  from my sins!

Wipe away ¹⁴  all my guilt!

Mazmur 51:15

51:15 O Lord, give me the words! ¹⁵ 

Then my mouth will praise you. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 54:2

54:2 O God, listen to my prayer!

Pay attention to what I say! ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 67:7

67:7 May God bless us! ¹⁸ 

Then all the ends of the earth will give him the honor he deserves. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 71:1

Psalm 71 ²⁰ 

71:1 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter!

Never let me be humiliated!

Mazmur 71:21

71:21 Raise me to a position of great honor! ²¹ 

Turn and comfort me! ²² 

Mazmur 72:11

72:11 All kings will bow down to him;

all nations will serve him.

Mazmur 82:4

82:4 Rescue the poor and needy!

Deliver them from the power ²³  of the wicked!

Mazmur 86:6

86:6 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my plea for mercy!

Mazmur 89:31

89:31 if they break ²⁴  my rules

and do not keep my commandments,

Mazmur 104:34

104:34 May my thoughts ²⁵  be pleasing to him!

I will rejoice in the Lord.

Mazmur 113:2

113:2 May the Lord’s name be praised

now and forevermore!

Mazmur 115:15

115:15 May you be blessed by the Lord,

the creator ²⁶  of heaven and earth!

Mazmur 118:2-3

118:2 Let Israel say,

“Yes, his loyal love endures!”

118:3 Let the family ²⁷  of Aaron say,

“Yes, his loyal love endures!”

Mazmur 119:18

119:18 Open ²⁸  my eyes so I can truly see ²⁹ 

the marvelous things in your law!

Mazmur 119:22

119:22 Spare me ³⁰  shame and humiliation,

for I observe your rules.

Mazmur 119:28

119:28 I collapse ³¹  from grief.

Sustain me by your word! ³² 

Mazmur 119:35-36

119:35 Guide me ³³  in the path of your commands,

for I delight to walk in it. ³⁴ 

119:36 Give me a desire for your rules, ³⁵ 

rather than for wealth gained unjustly. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 119:39

119:39 Take away the insults that I dread! ³⁷ 

Indeed, ³⁸  your regulations are good.

Mazmur 119:45

119:45 I will be secure, ³⁹ 

for I seek your precepts.

Mazmur 119:68

119:68 You are good and you do good.

Teach me your statutes!

Mazmur 120:2

120:2 I said, ⁴⁰  “O Lord, rescue me ⁴¹ 

from those who lie with their lips ⁴² 

and those who deceive with their tongue. ⁴³ 

Mazmur 122:7

122:7 May there be peace inside your defenses,

and prosperity ⁴⁴  inside your fortresses! ⁴⁵ 

Mazmur 122:9

122:9 For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God

I will pray for you to prosper. ⁴⁶ 

Mazmur 132:1

Psalm 132 ⁴⁷ 

A song of ascents. ⁴⁸ 

132:1 O Lord, for David’s sake remember

all his strenuous effort, ⁴⁹ 

Mazmur 137:9

137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies

and smashes them on a rock! ⁵⁰ 

Mazmur 139:9

139:9 If I were to fly away ⁵¹  on the wings of the dawn, ⁵² 

and settle down on the other side ⁵³  of the sea,

Mazmur 141:10

141:10 Let the wicked fall ⁵⁴  into their ⁵⁵  own nets,

while I escape. ⁵⁶ 

Mazmur 144:15

144:15 How blessed are the people who experience these things! ⁵⁷ 

How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Mazmur 145:3

145:3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise!

No one can fathom his greatness! ⁵⁸ 

Mazmur 146:3

146:3 Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver! ⁵⁹ 

[4:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “hear.”

[16:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 16. The psalmist seeks divine protection because he has remained loyal to God. He praises God for his rich blessings, and is confident God will vindicate him and deliver him from death.

[16:1]  ⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[16:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).

[16:1]  sn Taken shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[35:23]  ⁹ sn Though he is confident that the Lord is aware of his situation (see v. 22a), the psalmist compares the Lord’s inactivity to sleep and urges him to wake up.

[35:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for my justice.”

[35:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for my cause.”

[38:22]  ¹² tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.

[51:9]  ¹³ sn In this context Hide your face from my sins means “Do not hold me accountable for my sins.”

[51:9]  ¹⁴ tn See the note on the similar expression “wipe away my rebellious acts” in v. 1.

[51:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “open my lips.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and my mouth will declare your praise.”

[54:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to the words of my mouth.”

[67:7]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verb forms in vv. 6b-7a are understood as jussives.

[67:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will fear him.” After the jussive of the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive is understood as indicating purpose/result. (Note how v. 3 anticipates the universal impact of God showing his people blessing.) Another option is to take the verb as a jussive and translate, “Let all the ends of the earth fear him.”

[71:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 71. The psalmist prays for divine intervention and expresses his confidence that God will protect and vindicate him. The first three verses are very similar to Ps 31:1-3a.

[71:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “increase my greatness.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive, indicating this is a prayer or wish. The psalmist’s request for “greatness” (or “honor”) is not a boastful, self-serving prayer for prominence, but, rather, a request that God would vindicate by elevating him over those who are trying to humiliate him.

[71:21]  ²² tn The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.)

[82:4]  ²³ tn Heb “hand.”

[89:31]  ²⁴ tn Or “desecrate.”

[104:34]  ²⁵ tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.

[115:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “maker.”

[118:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[119:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “uncover.” The verb form גַּל (gal) is an apocopated Piel imperative from גָּלָה (galah, see GKC 214 §75.cc).

[119:18]  ²⁹ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:22]  ³⁰ tn Heb “roll away from upon me.” Some derive the imperatival form גַּל (gal) from גָּלָה (galah, “uncover,” as in v. 18), but here the form is from גָּלַל (galal, “roll”; see Josh 5:9, where חֶרְפָּה [kherpah, “shame; reproach”] also appears as object of the verb). Some, following the lead of a Dead Sea scroll (11QPs^a), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).

[119:28]  ³¹ tn Some translate “my soul weeps,” taking the verb דָלַף (dalaf) from a root meaning “to drip; to drop” (BDB 196 s.v. דֶּלַף). On the basis of cognate evidence from Arabic and Akkadian, HALOT 223 s.v. II דלף proposes a homonymic root here, meaning “be sleepless.” Following L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 127, 135) the translation assumes that the verb is cognate with Ugaritic dlp, “to collapse; to crumple” in CTA 2 iv. 17, 26. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 44, 144.

[119:28]  ³² tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”

[119:35]  ³³ tn Or “make me walk.”

[119:35]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for in it I delight.”

[119:36]  ³⁵ tn Heb “turn my heart to your rules.”

[119:36]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and not unjust gain.”

[119:39]  ³⁷ tn Heb “my reproach that I fear.”

[119:39]  ³⁸ tn Or “for.”

[119:45]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and I will walk about in a wide place.” The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive gives a further consequence of the anticipated positive divine response (see vv. 43-44). Another option is to take the cohortative as expressing the psalmist’s request. In this case one could translate, “and please give me security.”

[120:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “I said” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the introductory note for this psalm.

[120:2]  ⁴¹ tn Or “my life.”

[120:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “from a lip of falsehood.”

[120:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “from a tongue of deception.”

[122:7]  ⁴⁴ tn or “security.”

[122:7]  ⁴⁵ tn The psalmist uses second feminine singular pronominal forms to address personified Jerusalem.

[122:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “I will seek good for you.” The psalmist will seek Jerusalem’s “good” through prayer.

[132:1]  ⁴⁷ sn Psalm 132. The psalmist reminds God of David’s devotion and of his promises concerning David’s dynasty and Zion.

[132:1]  ⁴⁸ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[132:1]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “all his affliction.” This may refer to David’s strenuous and tireless efforts to make provision for the building of the temple (see 1 Chr 22:14). Some prefer to revocalize the text as עַנַוָתוֹ (’anavato, “his humility”).

[137:9]  ⁵⁰ sn For other references to the wholesale slaughter of babies in the context of ancient Near Eastern warfare, see 2 Kgs 8:12; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10.

[139:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “rise up.”

[139:9]  ⁵² sn On the wings of the dawn. This personification of the “dawn” may find its roots in mythological traditions about the god Shachar, whose birth is described in an Ugaritic myth (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 126) and who is mentioned in Isa 14:12 as the father of Helel.

[139:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “at the end.”

[141:10]  ⁵⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate, “the wicked will fall.”

[141:10]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “his.”

[141:10]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “at the same [that] I, until I pass by.” Another option is to take יַחַד (yakhad) with the preceding line, “let the wicked fall together into their own nets.”

[144:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “[O] the happiness of the people who [it is] such to them.”

[145:3]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”

[146:3]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”