Mazmur 41:4

41:4 As for me, I said: ¹ 

“O Lord, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

Mazmur 41:10

41:10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,

so I can pay them back!” ² 

Mazmur 86:16

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

Give your servant your strength!

Deliver your slave! ³ 

[41:4]  ¹ sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.

[41:10]  ² tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) here indicates purpose or result (“Then I will repay them”) after the preceding imperatives.

[86:16]  ³ 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.