Mazmur 7:3

7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, ¹ 

or am guilty of unjust actions, ² 

Mazmur 13:3

13:3 Look at me! ³  Answer me, O Lord my God!

Revive me, ⁴  or else I will die! ⁵ 

Mazmur 18:28

18:28 Indeed, ⁶  you are my lamp, Lord. ⁷ 

My God ⁸  illuminates the darkness around me. ⁹ 

Mazmur 20:1

Psalm 20 ¹⁰ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

20:1 May the Lord answer ¹¹  you ¹²  when you are in trouble; ¹³ 

may the God of Jacob ¹⁴  make you secure!

Mazmur 22:2

22:2 My God, I cry out during the day,

but you do not answer,

and during the night my prayers do not let up. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 25:2

25:2 My God, I trust in you.

Please do not let me be humiliated;

do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!

Mazmur 25:5

25:5 Guide me into your truth ¹⁶  and teach me.

For you are the God who delivers me;

on you I rely all day long.

Mazmur 30:12

30:12 So now ¹⁷  my heart ¹⁸  will sing to you and not be silent;

O Lord my God, I will always ¹⁹  give thanks to you.

Mazmur 38:15

38:15 Yet ²⁰  I wait for you, O Lord!

You will respond, O Lord, my God!

Mazmur 41:13

41:13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise ²¹ 

in the future and forevermore! ²² 

We agree! We agree! ²³ 

Mazmur 43:2

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. ²⁴ 

Why do you reject me? ²⁵ 

Why must I walk around ²⁶  mourning ²⁷ 

because my enemies oppress me?

Mazmur 43:4

43:4 Then I will go ²⁸  to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, ²⁹ 

so that I express my thanks to you, ³⁰  O God, my God, with a harp.

Mazmur 46:7

46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ³¹ 

The God of Jacob ³²  is our protector! ³³  (Selah)

Mazmur 46:11

46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ³⁴ 

The God of Jacob ³⁵  is our protector! ³⁶  (Selah)

Mazmur 51:14

51:14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder, ³⁷  O God, the God who delivers me!

Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance. ³⁸ 

Mazmur 59:17

59:17 You are my source of strength! I will sing praises to you! ³⁹ 

For God is my refuge, ⁴⁰  the God who loves me. ⁴¹ 

Mazmur 65:5

65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,

O God, our savior. ⁴² 

All the ends of the earth trust in you, ⁴³ 

as well as those living across the wide seas. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 71:22

71:22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,

praising ⁴⁵  your faithfulness, O my God!

I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,

O Holy One of Israel! ⁴⁶ 

Mazmur 84:8

84:8 O Lord, sovereign God, ⁴⁷ 

hear my prayer!

Listen, O God of Jacob! (Selah)

Mazmur 86:2

86:2 Protect me, ⁴⁸  for I am loyal!

O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Mazmur 89:8

89:8 O Lord, sovereign God! ⁴⁹ 

Who is strong like you, O Lord?

Your faithfulness surrounds you.

Mazmur 104:1

Psalm 104 ⁵⁰ 

104:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, you are magnificent. ⁵¹ 

You are robed in splendor and majesty.

[7:3]  ¹ tn Heb “if I have done this.”

[7:3]  ² tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “see.”

[13:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (’ur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”

[18:28]  ⁶ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki)is asseverative here.

[18:28]  ⁷ tn Ps 18:28 reads literally, “you light my lamp, Lord.” 2 Sam 22:29 has, “you are my lamp, Lord.” The Ps 18 reading may preserve two variants, נֵרִי (neriy, “my lamp”) and אוֹרִי (’oriy, “my light”), cf. Ps 27:1. The verb תָּאִיר (ta’ir, “you light”) in Ps 18:28 would, in this case, be a corruption of the latter. See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 150, n. 64. The metaphor, which likens the Lord to a lamp or light, pictures him as the psalmist’s source of life. For other examples of “lamp” used in this way, see Job 18:6; 21:17; Prov 13:9; 20:20; 24:20. For other examples of “light” as a symbol for life, see Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:13.

[18:28]  ⁸ tn 2 Sam 22:29 repeats the name “Lord.”

[18:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “my darkness.”

[20:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.

[20:1]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.

[20:1]  ¹² sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.

[20:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”

[20:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.

[22:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “there is no silence to me.”

[25:5]  ¹⁶ sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.

[30:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”

[30:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.

[30:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “forever.”

[38:15]  ²⁰ tn Or perhaps “surely.”

[41:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.

[41:13]  ²² tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.” See 1 Chr 16:36; Neh 9:5; Pss 90:2; 106:48.

[41:13]  ²³ tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God.

[43:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

[43:2]  ²⁵ tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

[43:2]  ²⁶ tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

[43:2]  ²⁷ sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.

[43:4]  ²⁸ tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”

[43:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[43:4]  ³⁰ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.

[46:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:7]  ³² tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:7]  ³³ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[46:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:11]  ³⁵ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:11]  ³⁶ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[51:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from bloodshed.” “Bloodshed” here stands by metonymy for the guilt which it produces.

[51:14]  ³⁸ 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).

[59:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “my strength, to you I will sing praises.”

[59:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[59:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the God of my loyal love.”

[65:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”

[65:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”

[65:5]  sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.

[65:5]  ⁴⁴ tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.

[71:22]  ⁴⁵ tn The word “praising” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[71:22]  ⁴⁶ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior.

[84:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Lord, God, hosts.” One expects the construct form אֱלֹהֵי before צְבָאוֹת (tsÿva’ot, “hosts”; see Ps 89:9) but יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (yehvah ’elohim) precedes צְבָאוֹת in Pss 59:5 and 80:4, 19 as well.

[86:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “my life.”

[89:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Traditionally “God of hosts.” The title here pictures the Lord as enthroned in the midst of the angelic hosts of heaven.

[104:1]  ⁵⁰ sn Psalm 104. The psalmist praises God as the ruler of the world who sustains all life.

[104:1]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “very great.”