Mazmur 22:8

22:8 They say, ¹ 

“Commit yourself ²  to the Lord!

Let the Lord ³  rescue him!

Let the Lord ⁴  deliver him, for he delights in him.” ⁵ 

Mazmur 41:1

Psalm 41 ⁶ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ⁷  is the one who treats the poor properly! ⁸ 

When trouble comes, ⁹  the Lord delivers him. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 50:22

50:22 Carefully consider this, you who reject God! ¹¹ 

Otherwise I will rip you to shreds ¹² 

and no one will be able to rescue you.

Mazmur 51:14

51:14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder, ¹³  O God, the God who delivers me!

Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 91:14-15

91:14 The Lord says, ¹⁵ 

“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;

I will protect him ¹⁶  because he is loyal to me. ¹⁷ 

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.

[22:8]  ¹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.

[22:8]  ² tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גלל here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the Lord.”

[22:8]  ³ tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:8]  ⁵ tn That is, “for he [the Lord] delights in him [the psalmist].” For other cases where the expression “delight in” refers to God’s delight in a person, see Num 14:8; 1 Kgs 10:9; Pss 18:19; 40:8.

[22:8]  sn This statement does not necessarily reflect the enemies’ actual belief, but it does reflect the psalmist’s confession. The psalmist’s enemies sarcastically appeal to God to help him, because he claims to be an object of divine favor. However, they probably doubted the reality of his claim.

[41:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

[41:1]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[41:1]  ⁸ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

[41:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  ¹⁰ tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.

[50:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[you who] forget God.” “Forgetting God” here means forgetting about his commandments and not respecting his moral authority.

[50:22]  ¹² sn Elsewhere in the psalms this verb is used (within a metaphorical framework) of a lion tearing its prey (see Pss 7:2; 17:12; 22:13).

[51:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “from bloodshed.” “Bloodshed” here stands by metonymy for the guilt which it produces.

[51:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my tongue will shout for joy your deliverance.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may my tongue shout for joy.” However, the pattern in vv. 12-15 appears to be prayer/request (see vv. 12, 14a, 15a) followed by promise/vow (see vv. 13, 14b, 15b).

[91:14]  ¹⁵ tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the words which follow are the Lord’s oracle of assurance.

[91:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).

[91:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).