Mazmur 25:4

25:4 Make me understand your ways, O Lord!

Teach me your paths! ¹ 

Mazmur 26:2

26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and test me!

Evaluate my inner thoughts and motives! ² 

Mazmur 33:22

33:22 May we experience your faithfulness, O Lord, ³ 

for ⁴  we wait for you.

Mazmur 35:22

35:22 But you take notice, ⁵  Lord!

O Lord, do not remain far away from me!

Mazmur 35:24

35:24 Vindicate me by your justice, O Lord my God!

Do not let them gloat ⁶  over me!

Mazmur 39:7

39:7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?

You are my only hope! ⁷ 

Mazmur 44:23

44:23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?

Wake up! ⁸  Do not reject us forever!

Mazmur 57:7

57:7 I am determined, ⁹  O God! I am determined!

I will sing and praise you!

Mazmur 66:10

66:10 For ¹⁰  you, O God, tested us;

you purified us like refined silver.

Mazmur 83:13

83:13 O my God, make them like dead thistles, ¹¹ 

like dead weeds blown away by ¹²  the wind!

Mazmur 83:16

83:16 Cover ¹³  their faces with shame,

so they might seek ¹⁴  you, ¹⁵  O Lord.

Mazmur 86:3

86:3 Have mercy on me, ¹⁶  O Lord,

for I cry out to you all day long!

Mazmur 90:13

90:13 Turn back toward us, O Lord!

How long must this suffering last? ¹⁷ 

Have pity on your servants! ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 92:5

92:5 How great are your works, O Lord!

Your plans are very intricate! ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 94:3

94:3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,

how long will the wicked celebrate? ²⁰ 

Mazmur 94:5

94:5 O Lord, they crush your people;

they oppress the nation that belongs to you. ²¹ 

Mazmur 119:55

119:55 I remember your name during the night, O Lord,

and I will keep ²²  your law.

Mazmur 119:64

119:64 O Lord, your loyal love fills the earth.

Teach me your statutes!

Mazmur 119:169

ת (Tav)

119:169 Listen to my cry for help, ²³  O Lord!

Give me insight by your word!

Mazmur 125:4

125:4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,

to the morally upright! ²⁴ 

Mazmur 130:1

Psalm 130 ²⁵ 

A song of ascents. ²⁶ 

130:1 From the deep water ²⁷  I cry out to you, O Lord.

Mazmur 139:19

139:19 If only ²⁸  you would kill the wicked, O God!

Get away from me, you violent men! ²⁹ 

Mazmur 139:23

139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! ³⁰ 

Test me, and know my concerns! ³¹ 

Mazmur 143:9

143:9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord!

I run to you for protection. ³² 

[25:4]  ¹ sn Teach me your paths. In this context the Lord’s “ways” and “paths” refer to the moral principles which the Lord prescribes for his followers. See vv. 8-10.

[26:2]  ² tn Heb “evaluate my kidneys and my heart.” The kidneys and heart were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[33:22]  ³ tn Heb “let your faithfulness, O Lord, be on us.”

[33:22]  ⁴ tn Or “just as.”

[35:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “you see, O Lord.” There is a deliberate play on words. In v. 21 the enemies say, “our eye sees,” but the psalmist is confident that the Lord “sees” as well, so he appeals to him for help (see also v. 17).

[35:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “rejoice.”

[39:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “my hope, for you it [is].”

[44:23]  ⁸ sn Wake up! See Ps 35:23.

[57:7]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “confident”; Heb “my heart is steadfast.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and/or emotions.

[66:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “indeed.”

[83:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “tumbleweed.” The Hebrew noun גַּלְגַּל (galgal) refers to a “wheel” or, metaphorically, to a whirling wind (see Ps 77:18). If taken in the latter sense here, one could understand the term as a metonymical reference to dust blown by a whirlwind (cf. NRSV “like whirling dust”). However, HALOT 190 s.v. II גַּלְגַּל understands the noun as a homonym referring to a “dead thistle” here and in Isa 17:13. The parallel line, which refers to קַשׁ (qash, “chaff”), favors this interpretation.

[83:13]  ¹² tn Heb “before.”

[83:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “fill.”

[83:16]  ¹⁴ tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).

[83:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.

[86:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “show me favor.”

[90:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Return, O Lord! How long?”

[90:13]  ¹⁸ tn Elsewhere the Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) + the preposition עַל (’al) + a personal object has the nuance “be comforted concerning [the personal object’s death]” (see 2 Sam 13:39; Jer 31:15). However, here the context seems to demand “feel sorrow for,” “have pity on.” In Deut 32:36 and Ps 135:14, where “servants” is also the object of the preposition, this idea is expressed with the Hitpael form of the verb.

[92:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “very deep [are] your thoughts.” God’s “thoughts” refer here to his moral design of the world, as outlined in vv. 6-15.

[94:3]  ²⁰ tn Or “exult.”

[94:5]  ²¹ tn Or “your inheritance.”

[119:55]  ²² tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve to obey the law.

[119:169]  ²³ tn Heb “may my cry approach before you.”

[125:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[130:1]  ²⁵ sn Psalm 130. The psalmist, confident of the Lord’s forgiveness, cries out to the Lord for help in the midst of his suffering and urges Israel to do the same.

[130:1]  ²⁶ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[130:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “depths,” that is, deep waters (see Ps 69:2, 14; Isa 51:10), a metaphor for the life-threatening danger faced by the psalmist.

[139:19]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Pss 81:8; 95:7, as well as GKC 321 §109.b).

[139:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “men of bloodshed.”

[139:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and know my heart.”

[139:23]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sar’apay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.

[143:9]  ³² tn Heb “to you I cover,” which makes no sense. The translation assumes an emendation to נַסְתִּי (nastiy, “I flee,” a Qal perfect, first singular form from נוּס, nos). Confusion of kaf (כ) and nun (נ) is attested elsewhere (see P. K. McCarter, Textual Criticism [GBS], 48). The collocation of נוּס (“flee”) with אֶל (’el, “to”) is well-attested.