Mazmur 7:1

Psalm 7 ¹ 

A musical composition ²  by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning ³  a Benjaminite named Cush. ⁴ 

7:1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. ⁵ 

Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

Mazmur 18:1

Psalm 18 ⁶ 

For the music director; by the Lord’s servant David, who sang ⁷  to the Lord the words of this song when ⁸  the Lord rescued him from the power ⁹  of all his enemies, including Saul. ¹⁰ 

18:1 He said: ¹¹ 

“I love ¹²  you, Lord, my source of strength! ¹³ 

Mazmur 59:1

Psalm 59 ¹⁴ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ¹⁵  a prayer ¹⁶  of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. ¹⁷ 

59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!

Protect me ¹⁸  from those who attack me! ¹⁹ 

[7:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.

[7:1]  ² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.

[7:1]  ³ tn Or “on account of.”

[7:1]  ⁴ sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.

[7:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[18:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 18. In this long song of thanks, the psalmist (a Davidic king, traditionally understood as David himself) affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. The psalmist’s experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the psalm appears in 2 Sam 22:1-51.

[18:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “spoke.”

[18:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

[18:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “hand.”

[18:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”

[18:1]  ¹¹ tn A number of translations (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) assign the words “he said” to the superscription, in which case the entire psalm is in first person. Other translations (e.g., NAB) include the introductory “he said” at the beginning of v. 1.

[18:1]  ¹² tn The verb רָחַם (rakham) elsewhere appears in the Piel (or Pual) verbal stem with the basic meaning, “have compassion.” The verb occurs only here in the basic (Qal) stem. The basic stem of the verbal root also occurs in Aramaic with the meaning “love” (see DNWSI 2:1068-69; Jastrow 1467 s.v. רָחַם; G. Schmuttermayr, “rhm: eine lexikalische Studie,” Bib 51 [1970]: 515-21). Since this introductory statement does not appear in the parallel version in 2 Sam 22:1-51, it is possible that it is a later addition to the psalm, made when the poem was revised for use in worship.

[18:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “my strength.” “Strength” is metonymic here, referring to the Lord as the one who bestows strength to the psalmist; thus the translation “my source of strength.”

[59:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.

[59:1]  ¹⁵ 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 superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.

[59:1]  ¹⁶ 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.”

[59:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”

[59:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when Saul sent assassins to surround David’s house and kill him in the morning (see 1 Sam 19:11). However, the psalm itself mentions foreign enemies (vv. 5, 8). Perhaps these references reflect a later adaptation of an original Davidic psalm.

[59:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”

[59:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”