Mazmur 30:6-7

30:6 In my self-confidence I said,

“I will never be upended.” ¹ 

30:7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. ² 

Then you rejected me ³  and I was terrified.

Mazmur 73:18-20

73:18 Surely ⁴  you put them in slippery places;

you bring them down ⁵  to ruin.

73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! ⁶ 

73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. ⁷ 

O Lord, when you awake ⁸  you will despise them. ⁹ 

Mazmur 147:6

147:6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,

but knocks ¹⁰  the wicked to the ground.

[30:6]  ¹ sn In my self-confidence I said… Here the psalmist begins to fill in the background of the crisis referred to in the earlier verses. He had been arrogant and self-confident, so the Lord withdrew his protection and allowed trouble to invade his life (vv. 8-11).

[30:7]  ² tn Heb “in your good favor you caused to stand for my mountain strength.” Apparently this means “you established strength for my mountain” (“mountain” in this case representing his rule, which would be centered on Mt. Zion) or “you established strength as my mountain” (“mountain” in this case being a metaphor for security).

[30:7]  ³ tn Heb “you hid your face.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or, as here, carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Ps 88:14).

[73:18]  ⁴ tn The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.

[73:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “cause them to fall.”

[73:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”

[73:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.

[73:20]  ⁸ sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.

[73:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.

[147:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “brings down.”