Mazmur 10:4

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

Mazmur 31:5

31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; ² 

you will rescue ³  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

Mazmur 69:32

69:32 The oppressed look on – let them rejoice!

You who seek God, ⁴  may you be encouraged! ⁵ 

Mazmur 70:1

Psalm 70 ⁶ 

For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention. ⁷ 

70:1 O God, please be willing to rescue me! ⁸ 

O Lord, hurry and help me! ⁹ 

Mazmur 78:56

78:56 Yet they challenged and defied ¹⁰  the sovereign God, ¹¹ 

and did not obey ¹²  his commands. ¹³ 

Mazmur 84:2

84:2 I desperately want to be ¹⁴ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ¹⁵ 

My heart and my entire being ¹⁶  shout for joy

to the living God.

Mazmur 89:8

89:8 O Lord, sovereign God! ¹⁷ 

Who is strong like you, O Lord?

Your faithfulness surrounds you.

Mazmur 94:23

94:23 He will pay them back for their sin. ¹⁸ 

He will destroy them because of ¹⁹  their evil;

the Lord our God will destroy them.

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).

[31:5]  ² tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.

[31:5]  ³ tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[69:32]  ⁴ sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).

[69:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.

[70:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 70. This psalm is almost identical to Ps 40:13-17. The psalmist asks for God’s help and for divine retribution against his enemies.

[70:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “to cause to remember.” The same form, a Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the superscription of Ps 38. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[70:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “O God, to rescue me.” A main verb is obviously missing. The verb רָצָה (ratsah, “be willing”) should be supplied (see Ps 40:13). Ps 40:13 uses the divine name “Lord” rather than “God.”

[70:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.

[78:56]  ¹⁰ tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”

[78:56]  ¹¹ tn Heb “God, the Most High.”

[78:56]  ¹² tn Or “keep.”

[78:56]  ¹³ tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).

[84:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[89:8]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally “God of hosts.” The title here pictures the Lord as enthroned in the midst of the angelic hosts of heaven.

[94:23]  ¹⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive is used in a rhetorical sense, describing an anticipated development as if it were already reality.

[94:23]  ¹⁹ tn Or “in.”