16:6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields
or received a beautiful tract of land. 1
36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! 2
They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! 3
Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90:1 O Lord, you have been our protector 5 through all generations!
A song of ascents, 7 by David.
124:1 “If the Lord had not been on our side” –
let Israel say this! –
1 tn Heb “measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant [places]; yes, property [or “an inheritance”] is beautiful for me.” On the dative use of עַל, see BDB 758 s.v. II.8. Extending the metaphor used in v. 5, the psalmist compares the divine blessings he has received to a rich, beautiful tract of land that one might receive by allotment or inheritance.
2 tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).
3 tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.
4 sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.
5 tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.
6 sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.
7 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.