Discovery BoxPsalms 86:3-8 
Context86:3 Have mercy on me, 1 O Lord,
for I cry out to you all day long!
86:4 Make your servant 2 glad,
for to you, O Lord, I pray! 3
86:5 Certainly 4 O Lord, you are kind 5 and forgiving,
and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.
86:6 O Lord, hear my prayer!
Pay attention to my plea for mercy!
86:7 In my time of trouble I cry out to you,
for you will answer me.
86:8 None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord!
Your exploits are incomparable! 6
Psalms 86:15
Context86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient 7 and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. 8
Psalms 103:2-13
Context103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Do not forget all his kind deeds! 9
103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases, 10
103:4 who delivers 11 your life from the Pit, 12
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
103:5 who satisfies your life with good things, 13
so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s. 14
103:6 The Lord does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed. 15
103:7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts 16 to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient 17 and demonstrates great loyal love. 18
103:9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry. 19
103:10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; 20
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. 21
103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers 22 over his faithful followers. 23
103:12 As far as the eastern horizon 24 is from the west, 25
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions 26 from us.
103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, 27
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. 28
Psalms 116:5
Context116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair;
our God is compassionate.
1 tn Or “show me favor.”
2 tn Heb “the soul of your servant.”
3 tn Heb “I lift up my soul.”
4 tn Or “for.”
5 tn Heb “good.”
6 tn Heb “and there are none like your acts.”
7 tn Heb “slow to anger.”
8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”
sn The psalmist’s confession of faith in this verse echoes Exod 34:6.
9 tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the
10 tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).
11 tn Or “redeems.”
12 tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.
13 tc Heb “who satisfies with the good of your ornaments.” The text as it stands makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes an emendation of עֶדְיֵךְ (’ed’ekh, “your ornaments”) to עֹדֵכִי (’odekhiy, “your duration; your continuance”) that is, “your life” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 18).
14 sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.
15 tn Heb “the
16 tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).
17 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
18 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
19 tn The Hebrew verb נָטַר (natar) is usually taken to mean “to keep; to guard,” with “anger” being understood by ellipsis. The idiom “to guard anger” is then understood to mean “to remain angry” (see Lev 19:18; Jer 3:5, 12; Nah 1:2). However, it is possible that this is a homonymic root meaning “to be angry” (see HALOT 695 s.v. נטר).
20 tn Heb “not according to our sins does he do to us.”
21 tn Heb “and not according to our misdeeds does he repay us.”
22 tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.
23 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
24 tn Heb “sunrise.”
25 tn Or “sunset.”
26 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
27 tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.
28 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
