Mazmur 69:1

Psalm 69 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ²  by David.

69:1 Deliver me, O God,

for the water has reached my neck. ³ 

Mazmur 4:8

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, ⁴ 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. ⁵ 

Mazmur 9:2

9:2 I will be happy and rejoice in you!

I will sing praises to you, O sovereign One! ⁶ 

Mazmur 18:19

18:19 He brought me out into a wide open place;

he delivered me because he was pleased with me. ⁷ 

Mazmur 18:24

18:24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; ⁸ 

he took notice of my blameless behavior. ⁹ 

Mazmur 34:9

34:9 Remain loyal to ¹⁰  the Lord, you chosen people of his, ¹¹ 

for his loyal followers ¹²  lack nothing!

Mazmur 36:9

36:9 For you are the one who gives

and sustains life. ¹³ 

Mazmur 38:16

38:16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; ¹⁴ 

when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 38:20

38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;

though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 41:4

41:4 As for me, I said: ¹⁷ 

“O Lord, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

Mazmur 41:12

41:12 As for me, you uphold ¹⁸  me because of my integrity; ¹⁹ 

you allow ²⁰  me permanent access to your presence. ²¹ 

Mazmur 49:15

49:15 But ²²  God will rescue ²³  my life ²⁴  from the power ²⁵  of Sheol;

certainly ²⁶  he will pull me to safety. ²⁷  (Selah)

Mazmur 64:8

64:8 Their slander will bring about their demise. ²⁸ 

All who see them will shudder, ²⁹ 

Mazmur 69:16-17

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ³⁰ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

69:17 Do not ignore ³¹  your servant,

for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! ³² 

Mazmur 69:26

69:26 For they harass ³³  the one whom you discipline; ³⁴ 

they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 69:35

69:35 For God will deliver Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and his people ³⁶  will again live in them and possess Zion. ³⁷ 

Mazmur 75:6

75:6 For victory does not come from the east or west,

or from the wilderness. ³⁸ 

Mazmur 89:6

89:6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?

Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings, ³⁹ 

Mazmur 89:16

89:16 They rejoice in your name all day long,

and are vindicated ⁴⁰  by your justice.

Mazmur 92:9

92:9 Indeed, ⁴¹  look at your enemies, O Lord!

Indeed, ⁴²  look at how your enemies perish!

All the evildoers are scattered!

[69:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.

[69:1]  ² tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.

[69:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

[4:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”

[9:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “[to] your name, O Most High.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyo/) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[18:19]  ⁷ tn Or “delighted in me.”

[18:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.”

[18:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.” 2 Sam 22:25 reads “according to my purity before his eyes.” The verbal repetition (compare vv. 20 and 24) sets off vv. 20-24 as a distinct sub-unit within the psalm.

[34:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fear.”

[34:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”

[34:9]  ¹² tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[36:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “for with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Water (note “fountain”) and light are here metaphors for life.

[38:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).

[38:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.

[38:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”

[41:4]  ¹⁷ sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.

[41:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “have upheld.” The perfect verbal form can be taken as generalizing/descriptive (present) or as a present perfect.

[41:12]  ¹⁹ sn Because of my integrity. See Pss 7:8; 25:21; 26:1, 11.

[41:12]  ²⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect. It is either generalizing/descriptive (present) or has a present perfect nuance (“you have allowed”).

[41:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “and you cause me to stand before you permanently.”

[49:15]  ²² tn Or “certainly.”

[49:15]  ²³ tn Or “redeem.”

[49:15]  ²⁴ tn Or “me.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[49:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “hand.”

[49:15]  ²⁶ tn Or “for.”

[49:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he will take me.” To improve the poetic balance of the verse, some move the words “from the power of Sheol” to the following line. The verse would then read: “But God will rescue my life; / from the power of Sheol he will certainly deliver me” (cf. NEB).

[49:15]  sn According to some, the psalmist here anticipates the resurrection (or at least an afterlife in God’s presence). But it is more likely that the psalmist here expresses his hope that God will rescue him from premature death at the hands of the rich oppressors denounced in the psalm. The psalmist is well aware that all (the wise and foolish) die (see vv. 7-12), but he is confident God will lead him safely through the present “times of trouble” (v. 5) and sweep the wicked away to their final destiny. The theme is a common one in the so-called wisdom psalms (see Pss 1, 34, 37, 112). For a fuller discussion of the psalmists’ view of the afterlife, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “A Theology of the Psalms,” A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, 284-88.

[64:8]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads literally, “and they caused him to stumble, upon them, their tongue.” Perhaps the third plural subject of the verb is indefinite with the third singular pronominal suffix on the verb being distributive (see Ps 63:10). In this case one may translate, “each one will be made to stumble.” The preposition עַל (’al) might then be taken as adversative, “against them [is] their tongue.” Many prefer to emend the text to וַיַּכְשִׁילֵמוֹ עֲלֵי לְשׁוֹנָם (vayyakhshilemo ’aley lÿshonam, “and he caused them to stumble over their tongue”). However, if this reading is original, it is difficult to see how the present reading of the MT arose. Furthermore, the preposition is not collocated with the verb כָּשַׁל (kashal) elsewhere. It is likely that the MT is corrupt, but a satisfying emendation has not yet been proposed.

[64:8]  ²⁹ tn The Hitpolel verbal form is probably from the root נוּד (nud; see HALOT 678 s.v. נוד), which is attested elsewhere in the Hitpolel stem, not the root נָדַד (nadad, as proposed by BDB 622 s.v. I נָדַד), which does not occur elsewhere in this stem.

[69:16]  ³⁰ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[69:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[69:17]  ³² tn Or “quickly.”

[69:26]  ³³ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

[69:26]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

[69:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

[69:26]  sn The psalmist is innocent of the false charges made by his enemies (v. 4), but he is also aware of his sinfulness (v. 5) and admits that he experiences divine discipline (v. 26) despite his devotion to God (v. 9). Here he laments that his enemies take advantage of such divine discipline by harassing and slandering him. They “kick him while he’s down,” as the expression goes.

[69:35]  ³⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[69:35]  ³⁷ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[75:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness of the mountains.” If one follows this reading the sentence is elliptical. One must supply “does help come,” or some comparable statement. However, it is possible to take הָרִים (harim) as a Hiphil infinitive from רוּם (rum), the same verb used in vv. 4-5 of “lifting up” a horn. In this case one may translate the form as “victory.” In this case the point is that victory does not come from alliances with other nations.

[89:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “sons of gods”; or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the Hebrew text, it is likely that the final mem (ם) is actually enclitic rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8. The phrase בְנֵי אֵלִים (vÿney ’elim, “sons of gods” or “sons of God”) occurs only here and in Ps 29:1. Since the “sons of gods/God” are here associated with “the assembly of the holy ones” and “council of the holy ones,” the heavenly assembly (comprised of so-called “angels” and other supernatural beings) appears to be in view. See Job 5:1; 15:15 and Zech 14:5, where these supernatural beings are referred to as “holy ones.” In Canaanite mythological texts the divine council of the high god El is called “the sons of El.” The OT apparently uses the Canaanite phrase, applying it to the supernatural beings that surround the Lord’s heavenly throne.

[89:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “are lifted up.”

[92:9]  ⁴¹ tn Or “for.”

[92:9]  ⁴² tn Or “for.”