Mazmur 16:9

16:9 So my heart rejoices

and I am happy; ¹ 

My life is safe. ² 

Mazmur 25:19

25:19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;

they hate me and want to harm me. ³ 

Mazmur 38:6

38:6 I am dazed ⁴  and completely humiliated; ⁵ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

Mazmur 91:8

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ⁶ 

Mazmur 119:154

119:154 Fight for me ⁷  and defend me! ⁸ 

Revive me with your word!

[16:9]  ¹ tn Heb “my glory is happy.” Some view the Hebrew term כְּבוֹדִי (kÿvodiy, “my glory”) as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 30:12; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.”

[16:9]  ² tn Heb “yes, my flesh dwells securely.” The psalmist’s “flesh” stands by metonymy for his body and, by extension, his physical life.

[25:19]  ³ tn Heb “see my enemies for they are numerous, and [with] violent hatred they hate me.”

[38:6]  ⁴ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[91:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[119:154]  ⁷ tn Or “argue my case.”

[119:154]  ⁸ tn Heb “and redeem me.” The verb “redeem” casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).