Mazmur 39:12

39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!

Listen to my cry for help!

Do not ignore my sobbing! ¹ 

For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;

I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. ² 

Mazmur 53:5

53:5 They are absolutely terrified, ³ 

even by things that do not normally cause fear. ⁴ 

For God annihilates ⁵  those who attack you. ⁶ 

You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them. ⁷ 

Mazmur 59:16

59:16 As for me, I will sing about your strength;

I will praise your loyal love in the morning.

For you are my refuge ⁸ 

and my place of shelter when I face trouble. ⁹ 

Mazmur 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ¹⁰ 

you have taken many captives. ¹¹ 

You receive tribute ¹²  from ¹³  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 69:6

69:6 Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me,

O sovereign Lord and king! ¹⁵ 

Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me,

O God of Israel!

Mazmur 69:13

69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! ¹⁶ 

O God, because of your great loyal love,

answer me with your faithful deliverance! ¹⁷ 

[39:12]  ¹ tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”

[39:12]  ² tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”

[39:12]  sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.

[53:5]  ³ tn Heb “there they are afraid [with] fear.” The perfect verbal form is probably used in a rhetorical manner; the psalmist describes the future demise of the oppressors as if it were already occurring. The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is also used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the wicked standing in fear at a spot that is this vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.). The cognate accusative following the verb emphasizes the degree of their terror (“absolutely”).

[53:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “there is no fear.” Apparently this means the evildoers are so traumatized with panic (see v. 5b) that they now jump with fear at everything, even those things that would not normally cause fear. Ps 14:5 omits this line.

[53:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “scatters the bones.” The perfect is used in a rhetorical manner, describing this future judgment as if it were already accomplished. Scattering the bones alludes to the aftermath of a battle. God annihilates his enemies, leaving their carcasses spread all over the battlefield. As the bodies are devoured by wild animals and decay, the bones of God’s dead enemies are exposed. See Ps 141:7.

[53:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “[those who] encamp [against] you.” The second person masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to God’s people viewed as a collective whole. Instead of “for God scatters the bones of those who encamp against you,” Ps 14:5 reads, “for God is with a godly generation.”

[53:5]  ⁷ tn Once again the perfect is used in a rhetorical manner, describing this future judgment as if it were already accomplished. As in the previous line, God’s people are probably addressed. The second person singular verb form is apparently collective, suggesting that the people are viewed here as a unified whole. Ps 14:6 reads here “the counsel of the oppressed you put to shame, even though God is his shelter,” the words being addressed to the wicked.

[59:16]  ⁸ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[59:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “and my shelter in the day of my distress.”

[68:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ¹² tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ¹³ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.

[69:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “O Master, Lord of hosts.” Both titles draw attention to God’s sovereign position.

[69:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

[69:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”