Mazmur 28:9

28:9 Deliver your people!

Empower ¹  the nation that belongs to you! ² 

Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms ³  at all times! ⁴ 

Mazmur 79:13--80:1

79:13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will continually thank you. ⁵ 

We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts. ⁶ 

Psalm 80 ⁷ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ⁸  a psalm of Asaph.

80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,

you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!

You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, ⁹  reveal your splendor! ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 95:7

95:7 For he is our God;

we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep he owns. ¹¹ 

Today, if only you would obey him! ¹² 

[28:9]  ¹ tn Or “bless.”

[28:9]  ² tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.

[28:9]  ³ tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”

[28:9]  sn The shepherd metaphor is sometimes associated with royal responsibility. See 2 Sam 5:2; 7:7; Mic 5:2-4).

[28:9]  ⁴ tn Or “forever.”

[79:13]  ⁵ tn Or (hyperbolically) “will thank you forever.”

[79:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “to a generation and a generation we will report your praise.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.

[80:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.

[80:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.

[80:1]  ⁹ sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.

[80:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “shine forth.”

[80:1]  sn Reveal your splendor. The psalmist may allude to Deut 33:2, where God “shines forth” from Sinai and comes to superintend Moses’ blessing of the tribes.

[95:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “of his hand.”

[95:7]  ¹² tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.