Mazmur 6:4

6:4 Relent, Lord, rescue me! ¹ 

Deliver me because of your faithfulness! ² 

Mazmur 17:11

17:11 They attack me, now they surround me; ³ 

they intend to throw me to the ground. ⁴ 

Mazmur 18:21

18:21 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands; ⁵ 

I have not rebelled against my God. ⁶ 

Mazmur 26:5

26:5 I hate the mob ⁷  of evil men,

and do not associate ⁸  with the wicked.

Mazmur 38:17

38:17 For I am about to stumble,

and I am in constant pain. ⁹ 

Mazmur 73:17

73:17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple, ¹⁰ 

and understood the destiny of the wicked. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 73:22

73:22 I was ignorant ¹²  and lacked insight; ¹³ 

I was as senseless as an animal before you. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 75:9

75:9 As for me, I will continually tell what you have done; ¹⁵ 

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob!

Mazmur 119:11

119:11 In my heart I store up ¹⁶  your words, ¹⁷ 

so I might not sin against you.

Mazmur 119:32

119:32 I run along the path of your commands,

for you enable me to do so. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 119:37

119:37 Turn my eyes away from what is worthless! ¹⁹ 

Revive me with your word! ²⁰ 

Mazmur 119:59

119:59 I consider my actions ²¹ 

and follow ²²  your rules.

Mazmur 132:17

132:17 There I will make David strong; ²³ 

I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue. ²⁴ 

[6:4]  ¹ tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[6:4]  ² sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.

[17:11]  ³ tc Heb “our steps, now they surround me.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “surround me,” while the Qere (marginal reading) has “surround us,” harmonizing the pronoun to the preceding “our steps.” The first person plural pronoun does not fit the context, where the psalmist speaks as an individual. In the preceding verses the psalmist uses a first person singular verbal or pronominal form twenty times. For this reason it is preferable to emend “our steps” to אִשְּׁרוּנִי (’ishÿruni, “they attack me”) from the verbal root אָשֻׁר (’ashur, “march, stride, track”).

[17:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “their eyes they set to bend down in the ground.”

[18:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “for I have kept the ways of the Lord.” The phrase “ways of the Lord” refers here to the “conduct required” by the Lord. In Ps 25 the Lord’s “ways” are associated with his covenantal demands (see vv. 4, 9-10). See also Ps 119:3 (cf. vv. 1, 4), as well as Deut 8:6; 10:12; 11:22; 19:9; 26:17; 28:9; 30:16.

[18:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “I have not acted wickedly from my God.” The statement is elliptical; the idea is, “I have not acted wickedly and, in so doing, departed from my God.”

[26:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “assembly, company.”

[26:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “sit.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.

[38:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”

[73:17]  ¹⁰ tn The plural of the term מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash) probably refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 68:35; Jer 51:51).

[73:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I discerned their end.” At the temple the psalmist perhaps received an oracle of deliverance announcing his vindication and the demise of the wicked (see Ps 12) or heard songs of confidence (for example, Ps 11), wisdom psalms (for example, Pss 1, 37), and hymns (for example, Ps 112) that describe the eventual downfall of the proud and wealthy.

[73:22]  ¹² tn Or “brutish, stupid.”

[73:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I was not knowing.”

[73:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “an animal I was with you.”

[75:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will declare forever.” The object needs to be supplied; God’s just judgment is in view.

[119:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “hide.”

[119:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”

[119:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for you make wide my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and understanding. The Lord gives the psalmist the desire and moral understanding that are foundational to the willing obedience depicted metaphorically in the preceding line. In Isa 60:5 the expression “your heart will be wide” means “your heart will swell with pride,” but here the nuance appears to be different.

[119:37]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Make my eyes pass by from looking at what is worthless.”

[119:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “by your word.”

[119:59]  ²¹ tn Heb “my ways.”

[119:59]  ²² tn Heb “and I turn my feet toward.”

[132:17]  ²³ tn Heb “there I will cause a horn to sprout for David.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Pss 18:2; 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that used its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36.

[132:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I have arranged a lamp for my anointed one.” Here the “lamp” is a metaphor for the Davidic dynasty (see 1 Kgs 11:36).