Psalms 18:28

18:28 Indeed,¹ you are my lamp, Lord.²

My God³ illuminates the darkness around me.⁴

Psalms 18:31

18:31 Indeed,⁵ who is God besides the Lord?

Who is a protector⁶ besides our God?⁷

Psalms 61:3

61:3 Indeed,⁸ you are⁹ my shelter,

a strong tower that protects me from the enemy.¹⁰

Psalms 102:10

102:10 because of your anger and raging fury.

Indeed,¹¹ you pick me up and throw me away.

Psalms 118:10

118:10 All the nations surrounded me.¹²

Indeed, in the name of the Lord¹³ I pushed them away.¹⁴

Psalms 119:39

119:39 Take away the insults that I dread!¹⁵

Indeed,¹⁶ your regulations are good.

Psalms 126:3

126:3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.

We were happy.

Psalms 128:4

128:4 Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord

will be blessed in this way.¹⁷

Psalms 135:4

135:4 Indeed,¹⁸ the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel to be his special possession.¹⁹

¹tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki)is asseverative here.

²tn 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.

³tn 2 Sam 22:29 repeats the name “Lord.”

⁴tn Heb “my darkness.”

⁵tn Or “for.”

⁶tn Heb “rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor of divine protection. See v. 2, where the Hebrew term צוּר (tsur) is translated “rocky summit.”

⁷tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “No one.” In this way the psalmist indicates that the Lord is the only true God and reliable source of protection. See also Deut 32:39, where the Lord affirms that he is the only true God. Note as well the emphasis on his role as protector (Heb “rocky cliff,” צוּר, tsur) in Deut 32:4, 15, 17-18, 30.

⁸tn Or “for.”

⁹tn Or “have been.”

¹⁰tn Heb “a strong tower from the face of an enemy.”

¹¹tn Or “for.”

¹²sn The reference to an attack by the nations suggests the psalmist may have been a military leader.

¹³tn In this context the phrase “in the name of the Lord” means “by the Lord’s power.”

¹⁴tn Traditionally the verb has been derived from מוּל (mul, “to circumcise”) and translated “[I] cut [them] off” (see BDB 557-58 s.v. II מוּל). However, it is likely that this is a homonym meaning “to fend off” (see HALOT 556 s.v. II מול) or “to push away.” In this context, where the psalmist is reporting his past experience, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite. The phrase also occurs in vv. 11, 12.

¹⁵tn Heb “my reproach that I fear.”

¹⁶tn Or “for.”

¹⁷tn Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the Lord, be blessed.”

¹⁸tn Or “for.”

¹⁹sn His special possession. The language echoes Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18. See also Mal 3:17.