Mazmur 69:1

Psalm 69 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ²  by David.

69:1 Deliver me, O God,

for the water has reached my neck. ³ 

Mazmur 92:9

92:9 Indeed, ⁴  look at your enemies, O Lord!

Indeed, ⁵  look at how your enemies perish!

All the evildoers are scattered!

Mazmur 102:13

102:13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion. ⁶ 

For it is time to have mercy on her,

for the appointed time has come.

Mazmur 9:3

9:3 When my enemies turn back,

they trip and are defeated ⁷  before you.

Mazmur 18:24

18:24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; ⁸ 

he took notice of my blameless behavior. ⁹ 

Mazmur 81:12

81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; ¹⁰ 

they did what seemed right to them. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 31:3

31:3 For you are my high ridge ¹²  and my stronghold;

for the sake of your own reputation ¹³  you lead me and guide me. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 69:16

69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! ¹⁵ 

Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!

Mazmur 4:8

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, ¹⁶ 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 18:19

18:19 He brought me out into a wide open place;

he delivered me because he was pleased with me. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 34:9

34:9 Remain loyal to ¹⁹  the Lord, you chosen people of his, ²⁰ 

for his loyal followers ²¹  lack nothing!

Mazmur 38:19

38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; ²² 

those who hate me without cause outnumber me. ²³ 

Mazmur 69:17

69:17 Do not ignore ²⁴  your servant,

for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! ²⁵ 

Mazmur 69:26

69:26 For they harass ²⁶  the one whom you discipline; ²⁷ 

they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 75:6

75:6 For victory does not come from the east or west,

or from the wilderness. ²⁹ 

Mazmur 89:2

89:2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; ³⁰ 

in the skies you set up your faithfulness.” ³¹ 

Mazmur 102:19

102:19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above; ³² 

from heaven the Lord will look toward earth, ³³ 

Mazmur 31:21

31:21 The Lord deserves praise ³⁴ 

for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 36:9

36:9 For you are the one who gives

and sustains life. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 41:4

41:4 As for me, I said: ³⁷ 

“O Lord, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

Mazmur 51:16

51:16 Certainly ³⁸  you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; ³⁹ 

you do not desire a burnt sacrifice. ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 54:6

54:6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice ⁴¹  to you!

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good!

Mazmur 55:18

55:18 He will rescue ⁴²  me and protect me from those who attack me, ⁴³ 

even though ⁴⁴  they greatly outnumber me. ⁴⁵ 

Mazmur 69:9

69:9 Certainly ⁴⁶  zeal for ⁴⁷  your house ⁴⁸  consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you. ⁴⁹ 

Mazmur 69:35

69:35 For God will deliver Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and his people ⁵⁰  will again live in them and possess Zion. ⁵¹ 

Mazmur 47:9

47:9 The nobles of the nations assemble,

along with the people of the God of Abraham, ⁵² 

for God has authority over the rulers ⁵³  of the earth.

He is highly exalted! ⁵⁴ 

Mazmur 40:15

40:15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”

be humiliated ⁵⁵  and disgraced! ⁵⁶ 

Mazmur 70:3

70:3 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”

be driven back ⁵⁷  and disgraced! ⁵⁸ 

Mazmur 92:8

92:8 But you, O Lord, reign ⁵⁹  forever!

Mazmur 142:6

142:6 Listen to my cry for help,

for I am in serious trouble! ⁶⁰ 

Rescue me from those who chase me,

for they are stronger than I am.

Mazmur 18:49

18:49 So I will give you thanks before the nations, ⁶¹  O Lord!

I will sing praises to you! ⁶² 

Mazmur 55:3

55:3 because of what the enemy says, ⁶³ 

and because of how the wicked ⁶⁴  pressure me, ⁶⁵ 

for they hurl trouble ⁶⁶  down upon me ⁶⁷ 

and angrily attack me.

Mazmur 92:4

92:4 For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work.

I will sing for joy because of what you have done. ⁶⁸ 

Mazmur 38:18

38:18 Yes, ⁶⁹  I confess my wrongdoing,

and I am concerned about my sins.

Mazmur 102:5

102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,

my bones protrude from my skin. ⁷⁰ 

[69:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.

[69:1]  ² tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.

[69:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.

[92:9]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[92:9]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[102:13]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verbal forms are understood as expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God’s intervention. Another option is to take them as expressing the psalmist’s request or wish, “You, rise up and have compassion!”

[9:3]  ⁷ tn Or “perish”; or “die.” The imperfect verbal forms in this line either emphasize what typically happens or describe vividly the aftermath of a recent battle in which the Lord defeated the psalmist’s enemies.

[18:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.”

[18:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.” 2 Sam 22:25 reads “according to my purity before his eyes.” The verbal repetition (compare vv. 20 and 24) sets off vv. 20-24 as a distinct sub-unit within the psalm.

[81:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

[81:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

[31:3]  ¹² sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[31:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

[31:3]  ¹⁴ tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[69:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”

[4:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

[4:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”

[18:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “delighted in me.”

[34:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “fear.”

[34:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “O holy ones of his.”

[34:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[38:19]  ²² tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).

[38:19]  ²³ tn Heb “are many.”

[69:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[69:17]  ²⁵ tn Or “quickly.”

[69:26]  ²⁶ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

[69:26]  ²⁷ tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

[69:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

[69:26]  sn The psalmist is innocent of the false charges made by his enemies (v. 4), but he is also aware of his sinfulness (v. 5) and admits that he experiences divine discipline (v. 26) despite his devotion to God (v. 9). Here he laments that his enemies take advantage of such divine discipline by harassing and slandering him. They “kick him while he’s down,” as the expression goes.

[75:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for not from the east or from the west, and not from the wilderness of the mountains.” If one follows this reading the sentence is elliptical. One must supply “does help come,” or some comparable statement. However, it is possible to take הָרִים (harim) as a Hiphil infinitive from רוּם (rum), the same verb used in vv. 4-5 of “lifting up” a horn. In this case one may translate the form as “victory.” In this case the point is that victory does not come from alliances with other nations.

[89:2]  ³⁰ tn Heb “built.”

[89:2]  ³¹ sn You set up your faithfulness. This may allude to the Lord’s heavenly throne, which symbolizes his just rule and from which the Lord decrees his unconditional promises (see vv. 8, 14).

[102:19]  ³² tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”

[102:19]  ³³ tn The perfect verbal forms in v. 19 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 18.

[31:21]  ³⁴ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

[31:21]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for he caused his faithfulness to be amazing to me in a besieged city.” The psalmist probably speaks figuratively here. He compares his crisis to being trapped in a besieged city, but the Lord answered his prayer for help. Verses 19-24 were apparently written after the Lord answered the prayer of vv. 1-18.

[36:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “for with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Water (note “fountain”) and light are here metaphors for life.

[41:4]  ³⁷ sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.

[51:16]  ³⁸ tn Or “For.” The translation assumes the particle is asseverative (i.e., emphasizing: “certainly”). (Some translations that consider the particle asseverative leave it untranslated.) If taken as causal or explanatory (“for”, cf. NRSV), the verse would explain why the psalmist is pleading for forgiveness, rather than merely offering a sacrifice.

[51:16]  ³⁹ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative is used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “You do not want a sacrifice, should I offer [it]” (cf. NEB). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortative is part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.)

[51:16]  ⁴⁰ sn You do not desire a burnt sacrifice. The terminology used in v. 16 does not refer to expiatory sacrifices, but to dedication and communion offerings. This is not a categorical denial of the sacrificial system in general or of the importance of such offerings. The psalmist is talking about his specific situation. Dedication and communion offerings have their proper place in worship (see v. 19), but God requires something more fundamental, a repentant and humble attitude (see v. 17), before these offerings can have real meaning.

[54:6]  ⁴¹ tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve/vow to praise.

[55:18]  ⁴² tn The perfect verbal form is here used rhetorically to indicate that the action is certain to take place (the so-called perfect of certitude).

[55:18]  ⁴³ tn Heb “he will redeem in peace my life from [those who] draw near to me.”

[55:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “for.”

[55:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “among many they are against me.” For other examples of the preposition עִמָּד (’immad) used in the sense of “at, against,” see HALOT 842 s.v.; BDB 767 s.v.; IBHS 219 §11.2.14b.

[69:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

[69:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “devotion to.”

[69:9]  ⁴⁸ sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

[69:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”

[69:9]  sn Jn 2:17 applies the first half of this verse to Jesus’ ministry in the context of John’s account of Jesus cleansing the temple.

[69:35]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[69:35]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:9]  ⁵² tc The words “along with” do not appear in the MT. However, the LXX has “with,” suggesting that the original text may have read עִם עַם (’im ’am, “along with the people”). In this case the MT is haplographic (the consonantal sequence ayin-mem [עם] being written once instead of twice). Another option is that the LXX is simply and correctly interpreting “people” as an adverbial accusative and supplying the appropriate preposition.

[47:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “for to God [belong] the shields of the earth.” Perhaps the rulers are called “shields” because they are responsible for protecting their people. See Ps 84:9, where the Davidic king is called “our shield,” and perhaps also Hos 4:18.

[47:9]  ⁵⁴ tn The verb עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”) appears once more (see v. 5), though now in the Niphal stem.

[40:15]  ⁵⁵ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.

[40:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “May they be humiliated according to their shame, those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’”

[70:3]  ⁵⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive in this imprecation.

[70:3]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “May they be turned back according to their shame, those who say, ‘Aha! Aha!’” Ps 40:15 has the verb “humiliated” instead of “turned back” and adds “to me” after “say.”

[92:8]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “[are elevated] on high.”

[142:6]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “for I am very low.”

[18:49]  ⁶¹ sn I will give you thanks before the nations. This probably alludes to the fact that the psalmist will praise the Lord in the presence of the defeated nations when they, as his subjects, bring their tribute payments. Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness. See J. H. Eaton, Kingship and the Psalms (SBT), 182-85.

[18:49]  ⁶² tn Heb “to your name.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case “Lord,” the primary name of Israel’s covenant God which suggests his active presence with his people (see Exod 3:12-15).

[55:3]  ⁶³ tn Heb “because of [the] voice of [the] enemy.”

[55:3]  ⁶⁴ tn The singular forms “enemy” and “wicked” are collective or representative, as the plural verb forms in the second half of the verse indicate.

[55:3]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “from before the pressure of the wicked.” Some suggest the meaning “screech” (note the parallel “voice”; cf. NEB “shrill clamour”; NRSV “clamor”) for the rare noun עָקָה (’aqah, “pressure”).

[55:3]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “wickedness,” but here the term refers to the destructive effects of their wicked acts.

[55:3]  ⁶⁷ tc The verb form in the MT appears to be a Hiphil imperfect from the root מוֹט (mot, “to sway”), but the Hiphil occurs only here and in the Kethib (consonantal text) of Ps 140:10, where the form יַמְטֵר (yamter, “let him rain down”) should probably be read. Here in Ps 55:3 it is preferable to read יַמְטִירוּ (yamtiru, “they rain down”). It is odd for “rain down” to be used with an abstract object like “wickedness,” but in Job 20:23 God “rains down” anger (unless one emends the text there; see BHS).

[92:4]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “the works of your hands.”

[38:18]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

[102:5]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.