Mazmur 36:7

36:7 How precious ¹  is your loyal love, O God!

The human race finds shelter under your wings. ² 

Mazmur 57:1

Psalm 57 ³ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ⁴  a prayer ⁵  of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. ⁶ 

57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter. ⁷ 

In the shadow of your wings ⁸  I take shelter

until trouble passes.

Mazmur 63:7

63:7 For you are my deliverer; ⁹ 

under your wings ¹⁰  I rejoice.

Mazmur 90:1

Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90 ¹¹ 

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90:1 O Lord, you have been our protector ¹²  through all generations!

Mazmur 90:4

90:4 Yes, ¹³  in your eyes a thousand years

are like yesterday that quickly passes,

or like one of the divisions of the nighttime. ¹⁴ 

[36:7]  ¹ tn Or “valuable.”

[36:7]  ² tn Heb “and the sons of man in the shadow of your wings find shelter.” The preservation of physical life is in view, as the next verse makes clear.

[57:1]  ³ sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.

[57:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.

[57:1]  ⁵ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[57:1]  ⁶ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.

[57:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[57:1]  ⁸ sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).

[63:7]  ⁹ tn Or “[source of] help.”

[63:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”

[90:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.

[90:1]  ¹² tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.

[90:4]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[90:4]  ¹⁴ sn The divisions of the nighttime. The ancient Israelites divided the night into distinct periods, or “watches.”