Mazmur 20:6

20:6 Now I am sure ¹  that the Lord will deliver ²  his chosen king; ³ 

he will intervene for him ⁴  from his holy heavenly temple, ⁵ 

and display his mighty ability to deliver. ⁶ 

Mazmur 86:17

86:17 Show me evidence of your favor! ⁷ 

Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed, ⁸ 

for you, O Lord, will help me and comfort me. ⁹ 

Mazmur 91:15

91:15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.

I will be with him when he is in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him honor.

Mazmur 142:1

Psalm 142 ¹⁰ 

A well-written song ¹¹  by David, when he was in the cave; ¹²  a prayer.

142:1 To the Lord I cry out; ¹³ 

to the Lord I plead for mercy. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 142:4

142:4 Look to the right and see!

No one cares about me. ¹⁵ 

I have nowhere to run; ¹⁶ 

no one is concerned about my life. ¹⁷ 

[20:6]  ¹ tn Or “know.”

[20:6]  sn Now I am sure. The speaker is not identified. It is likely that the king, referring to himself in the third person (note “his chosen king”), responds to the people’s prayer. Perhaps his confidence is due to the reception of a divine oracle of salvation.

[20:6]  ² tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the Lord typically delivers the king.

[20:6]  ³ tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.

[20:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “he will answer him.”

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”

[20:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).

[86:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “Work with me a sign for good.” The expression “work a sign” also occurs in Judg 6:17.

[86:17]  ⁸ tn After the imperative in the preceding line (“work”), the prefixed verb forms with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose or result.

[86:17]  ⁹ tn The perfect verbal forms are understood here as dramatic/rhetorical, expressing the psalmist’s certitude that such a sign from the Lord will be followed by his intervention. Another option is to understand the forms as future perfects (“for you, O Lord, will have helped me and comforted me”).

[142:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

[142:1]  ¹¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[142:1]  ¹² sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while 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. See the superscription of Ps 57.

[142:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I cry out.”

[142:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I plead for mercy.”

[142:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”

[142:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”

[142:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”