Mazmur 28:1

Psalm 28 ¹ 

By David.

28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!

My protector, ²  do not ignore me! ³ 

If you do not respond to me, ⁴ 

I will join ⁵  those who are descending into the grave. ⁶ 

Mazmur 39:12

39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!

Listen to my cry for help!

Do not ignore my sobbing! ⁷ 

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

I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. ⁸ 

Mazmur 50:21

50:21 When you did these things, I was silent, ⁹ 

so you thought I was exactly like you. ¹⁰ 

But now I will condemn ¹¹  you

and state my case against you! ¹² 

Mazmur 83:1

Psalm 83 ¹³ 

A song, a psalm of Asaph.

83:1 O God, do not be silent!

Do not ignore us! ¹⁴  Do not be inactive, O God!

[28:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.

[28:1]  ² tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[28:1]  ³ tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”

[28:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”

[28:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will be equal with.”

[28:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[39:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”

[39:12]  ⁸ 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.

[50:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “these things you did and I was silent.” Some interpret the second clause (“and I was silent”) as a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer, “[When you do these things], should I keep silent?” (cf. NEB). See GKC 335 §112.cc.

[50:21]  sn The Lord was silent in the sense that he delayed punishment. Of course, God’s patience toward sinners eventually runs out. The divine “silence” is only temporary (see v. 3, where the psalmist, having described God’s arrival, observes that “he is not silent”).

[50:21]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew infinitive construct (הֱיוֹת, heyot) appears to function like the infinitive absolute here, adding emphasis to the following finite verbal form (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). See GKC 339-40 §113.a. Some prefer to emend הֱיוֹת (heyot) to the infinitive absolute form הָיוֹ (hayo).

[50:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “rebuke” (see v. 8).

[50:21]  ¹² tn Heb “and I will set in order [my case against you] to your eyes.” The cohortative form expresses the Lord’s resolve to accuse and judge the wicked.

[83:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 83. The psalmist asks God to deliver Israel from the attacks of foreign nations. Recalling how God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of Deborah and Gideon, he prays that the hostile nations would be humiliated.

[83:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “do not be deaf.”