Psalms 61:1--63:11 
ContextFor the music director; to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.
61:1 O God, hear my cry for help!
Pay attention to my prayer!
61:2 From the most remote place on earth 2
I call out to you in my despair. 3
Lead me 4 up to an inaccessible rocky summit! 5
61:3 Indeed, 6 you are 7 my shelter,
a strong tower that protects me from the enemy. 8
61:4 I will be a permanent guest in your home; 9
I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. 10 (Selah)
61:5 For you, O God, hear my vows;
you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers. 11
61:6 Give the king long life!
Make his lifetime span several generations! 12
61:7 May he reign 13 forever before God!
Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. 14
61:8 Then I will sing praises to your name continually, 15
as I fulfill 16 my vows day after day.
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
62:1 For God alone I patiently wait; 18
he is the one who delivers me. 19
62:2 He alone is my protector 20 and deliverer.
He is my refuge; 21 I will not be upended. 22
62:3 How long will you threaten 23 a man?
All of you are murderers, 24
as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence. 25
62:4 They 26 spend all their time planning how to bring him 27 down. 28
They love to use deceit; 29
they pronounce blessings with their mouths,
but inwardly they utter curses. 30 (Selah)
62:5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! 31
For he is the one who gives me confidence. 32
62:6 He alone is my protector 33 and deliverer.
He is my refuge; 34 I will not be upended. 35
62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;
God is my strong protector and my shelter. 36
62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!
Pour out your hearts before him! 37
God is our shelter! (Selah)
62:9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;
human beings are unreliable. 38
When they are weighed in the scales,
all of them together are lighter than air. 39
62:10 Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression! 40
Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery! 41
If wealth increases, do not become attached to it! 42
62:11 God has declared one principle;
two principles I have heard: 43
God is strong, 44
62:12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. 45
For you repay men for what they do. 46
A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. 48
63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! 49
My soul thirsts 50 for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched 51 land where there is no water.
63:2 Yes, 52 in the sanctuary I have seen you, 53
and witnessed 54 your power and splendor.
63:3 Because 55 experiencing 56 your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
63:4 For this reason 57 I will praise you while I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands. 58
63:5 As if with choice meat 59 you satisfy my soul. 60
My mouth joyfully praises you, 61
63:6 whenever 62 I remember you on my bed,
and think about you during the nighttime hours.
63:7 For you are my deliverer; 63
under your wings 64 I rejoice.
63:8 My soul 65 pursues you; 66
your right hand upholds me.
63:9 Enemies seek to destroy my life, 67
but they will descend into the depths of the earth. 68
63:10 Each one will be handed over to the sword; 69
their corpses will be eaten by jackals. 70
63:11 But the king 71 will rejoice in God;
everyone who takes oaths in his name 72 will boast,
for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. 73
1 sn Psalm 61. The psalmist cries out for help and expresses his confidence that God will protect him.
2 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).
3 tn Heb “while my heart faints.”
4 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
5 tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”
6 tn Or “for.”
7 tn Or “have been.”
8 tn Heb “a strong tower from the face of an enemy.”
9 tn Heb “I will live as a resident alien in your tent permanently.” The cohortative is understood here as indicating resolve. Another option is to take it as expressing a request, “please let me live” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
10 sn I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
11 tn Heb “you grant the inheritance of those who fear your name.” “Inheritance” is normally used of land which is granted as an inheritance; here it refers metaphorically to the blessings granted God’s loyal followers. To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).
12 tn Heb “days upon days of the king add, his years like generation and generation.”
sn It is not certain if the (royal) psalmist is referring to himself in the third person in this verse, or if an exile is praying on behalf of the king.
13 tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.
14 tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”
15 tn Or “forever.”
16 tn Or perhaps, “and thereby fulfill.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.
17 sn Psalm 62. The psalmist expresses his unwavering confidence in God’s justice and in his ability to protect his people.
18 tn Heb “only for God [is] there silence [to] my soul.”
19 tn Heb “from him [is] my deliverance.”
20 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
21 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
22 tn The Hebrew text adds רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) at the end of the line. It is unusual for this adverb to follow a negated verb. Some see this as qualifying the assertion to some degree, but this would water down the affirmation too much (see v. 6b, where the adverb is omitted). If the adverb has a qualifying function, it would suggest that the psalmist might be upended, though not severely. This is inconsistent with the confident mood of the psalm. The adverb probably has an emphatic force here, “I will not be greatly upended” meaning “I will not be annihilated.”
23 tn The verb form is plural; the psalmist addresses his enemies. The verb הוּת occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “shout at.”
24 tn The Hebrew text has a Pual (passive) form, but the verb form should be vocalized as a Piel (active) form. See BDB 953-54 s.v. רָצַח.
25 tn Heb “like a bent wall and a broken fence.” The point of the comparison is not entirely clear. Perhaps the enemies are depicted as dangerous, like a leaning wall or broken fence that is in danger of falling on someone (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:69).
26 tn That is, the psalmist’s enemies addressed in the previous verse.
27 tn That is, the generic “man” referred to in the previous verse.
28 tn Heb “only from his lofty place [or perhaps, “dignity”] they plan to drive [him] away.”
29 tn Heb “they delight [in] a lie.”
30 sn The enemies use deceit to bring down their victim. They make him think they are his friends by pronouncing blessings upon him, but inwardly they desire his demise.
31 tn Heb “only for God be silent, my soul.” The wording is similar to that of v. 1a. Here an imperatival form, דּוֹמִּי (dommiy, “be silent”), appears instead of the noun דּוּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”). The psalmist is encouraging himself to maintain his trust in God.
32 tn Heb “for from him [is] my hope.”
33 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
34 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
35 sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.
36 tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”
37 tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).
38 tn Heb “only a breath [are] the sons of mankind, a lie [are] the sons of man.” The phrases “sons of mankind” and “sons of man” also appear together in Ps 49:2. Because of the parallel line there, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, a number of interpreters and translators treat these expressions as polar opposites, בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes. But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand the phrases as synonymous expressions.
39 tn The noun הֶבֶל (hevel), translated “a breath” earlier in the verse, appears again here.
40 tn Heb “do not trust in oppression.” Here “oppression” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by oppressive measures, as the final line of the verse indicates.
41 tn Heb “and in robbery do not place vain hope.” Here “robbery” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by theft, as the next line of the verse indicates.
42 tn Heb “[as for] wealth, when it bears fruit, do not set [your] heart [on it].”
43 tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (’akhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַּיִם (shÿtayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).
44 tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”
45 tn Heb “and to you, O Master, [is] loyal love.”
46 tn Heb “for you pay back to a man according to his deed.” Another option is to understand vv. 11b and 12a as the first principle and v. 12b as the second. In this case one might translate, “God has declared one principle, two principles I have heard, namely, that God is strong, and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love, and that you repay men for what they do.”
sn You repay men for what they do. The psalmist views God’s justice as a demonstration of both his power (see v. 11c) and his loyal love (see v. 12a). When God judges evildoers, he demonstrates loyal love to his people.
47 sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.
48 sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.
49 tn Or “I will seek you.”
50 tn Or “I thirst.”
51 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.
52 tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).
53 tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”
54 tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.
55 tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).
56 tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.
57 tn Or perhaps “then.”
58 sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).
59 tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”
60 tn Or “me.”
61 tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”
62 tn The Hebrew term אִם (’im) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34.
63 tn Or “[source of] help.”
64 tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”
65 tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
66 tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).
67 tn Heb “but they for destruction seek my life.” The pronoun “they” must refer here to the psalmist’s enemies, referred to at this point for the first time in the psalm.
68 sn The depths of the earth refers here to the underworld dwelling place of the dead (see Ezek 26:20; 31:14, 16, 18; 32:18, 24). See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 167.
69 tn Heb “they will deliver him over to the sword.” The third masculine plural subject must be indefinite (see GKC 460 §144.f) and the singular pronominal suffix either representative or distributive (emphasizing that each one will be so treated). Active verbs with indefinite subjects may be translated as passives with the object (in the Hebrew text) as subject (in the translation).
70 tn Heb “they will be [the] portion of jackals”; traditionally, “of foxes.”
71 sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.
72 tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”
73 tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.
