Mazmur 119:166-176

119:166 I hope for your deliverance, O Lord,

and I obey ¹  your commands.

119:167 I keep your rules;

I love them greatly.

119:168 I keep your precepts and rules,

for you are aware of everything I do. ² 

ת (Tav)

119:169 Listen to my cry for help, ³  O Lord!

Give me insight by your word!

119:170 Listen to my appeal for mercy! ⁴ 

Deliver me, as you promised. ⁵ 

119:171 May praise flow freely from my lips,

for you teach me your statutes.

119:172 May my tongue sing about your instructions, ⁶ 

for all your commands are just.

119:173 May your hand help me,

for I choose to obey ⁷  your precepts.

119:174 I long for your deliverance, O Lord;

I find delight in your law.

119:175 May I ⁸  live and praise you!

May your regulations help me! ⁹ 

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ¹⁰ 

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

[119:166]  ¹ tn Heb “do.”

[119:168]  ² tn Heb “for all my ways [are] before you.”

[119:169]  ³ tn Heb “may my cry approach before you.”

[119:170]  ⁴ tn Heb “may my appeal for mercy come before you.”

[119:170]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to your speech.”

[119:172]  ⁶ tn Heb “your word.”

[119:173]  ⁷ tn The words “to obey” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[119:175]  ⁸ tn Heb “my life.”

[119:175]  ⁹ tn God’s regulations will “help” the psalmist by giving him moral and ethical guidance.

[119:176]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).