Mazmur 25:15-22

25:15 I continually look to the Lord for help, ¹ 

for he will free my feet from the enemy’s net. ² 

25:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me,

for I am alone ³  and oppressed!

25:17 Deliver me from my distress; ⁴ 

rescue me from my suffering! ⁵ 

25:18 See my pain and suffering!

Forgive all my sins! ⁶ 

25:19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;

they hate me and want to harm me. ⁷ 

25:20 Protect me ⁸  and deliver me!

Please do not let me be humiliated,

for I have taken shelter in you!

25:21 May integrity and godliness protect me,

for I rely on you!

25:22 O God, rescue ⁹  Israel

from all their distress! ¹⁰ 

[25:15]  ¹ tn Heb “my eyes continually [are] toward the Lord.”

[25:15]  ² tn Heb “for he will bring out from a net my feet.” The hostility of the psalmist’s enemies is probably in view (see v. 19).

[25:16]  ³ tn That is, helpless and vulnerable.

[25:17]  ⁴ tc Heb “the distresses of my heart, they make wide.” The text makes little if any sense as it stands, unless this is an otherwise unattested intransitive use of the Hiphil of רָחַב (rakhav, “be wide”). It is preferable to emend the form הִרְחִיבוּ (hirkhivu; Hiphil perfect third plural “they make wide”) to הַרְחֵיב (harkhev; Hiphil imperative masculine singular “make wide”). (The final vav [ו] can be joined to the following word and taken as a conjunction.) In this case one can translate, “[in/from] the distresses of my heart, make wide [a place for me],” that is, “deliver me from the distress I am experiencing.” For the expression “make wide [a place for me],” see Ps 4:1.

[25:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “from my distresses lead me out.”

[25:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “lift up all my sins.”

[25:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “see my enemies for they are numerous, and [with] violent hatred they hate me.”

[25:20]  ⁸ tn Or “my life.”

[25:22]  ⁹ tn Or “redeem.”

[25:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his distresses.”

[25:22]  sn O God, rescue Israel from all their distress. It is possible that the psalmist speaks on behalf of the nation throughout this entire psalm. Another option is that v. 22 is a later addition to the psalm which applies an original individual lament to the covenant community. If so, it may reflect an exilic setting.