2:3 They say, 1 “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! 2
Let’s free ourselves from 3 their ropes!”
66:12 You allowed men to ride over our heads;
we passed through fire and water,
but you brought us out into a wide open place. 4
A well-written song 6 by Asaph.
74:1 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us? 7
Why does your anger burn 8 against the sheep of your pasture?
78:20 Yes, 9 he struck a rock and water flowed out,
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
79:8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations! 10
Quickly send your compassion our way, 11
for we are in serious trouble! 12
A song, a psalm of Asaph.
83:1 O God, do not be silent!
Do not ignore us! 14 Do not be inactive, O God!
90:14 Satisfy us in the morning 15 with your loyal love!
Then we will shout for joy and be happy 16 all our days!
95:1 Come! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord!
Let’s shout out praises to our protector who delivers us! 18
98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. 19
All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. 20
100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us and we belong to him; 21
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
103:12 As far as the eastern horizon 22 is from the west, 23
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions 24 from us.
115:12 The Lord takes notice of us, 25 he will bless 26 –
he will bless the family 27 of Israel,
he will bless the family of Aaron.
137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! 28
How blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us! 29
1 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.
2 tn Heb “their (i.e., the
3 tn Heb “throw off from us.”
4 tc The MT reads רְוָיָה (“saturation”) but this should be emended to רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah, “wide open place”; i.e., “relief”), a reading supported by several ancient versions (LXX, Syriac, Jerome, Targum).
5 sn Psalm 74. The psalmist, who has just experienced the devastation of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586
6 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
7 sn The psalmist does not really believe God has permanently rejected his people or he would not pray as he does in this psalm. But this initial question reflects his emotional response to what he sees and is overstated for the sake of emphasis. The severity of divine judgment gives the appearance that God has permanently abandoned his people.
8 tn Heb “smoke.” The picture is that of a fire that continues to smolder.
9 tn Heb “look.”
10 tn Heb “do not remember against us sins, former.” Some understand “former” as an attributive adjective modifying sins, “former [i.e., chronologically prior] sins” (see BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן). The present translation assumes that ראשׁנים (“former”) here refers to those who lived formerly, that is, the people’s ancestors (see Lam 5:7). The word is used in this way in Lev 26:45; Deut 19:14 and Eccl 1:11.
11 tn Heb “may your compassion quickly confront us.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating a tone of prayer.
12 tn Heb “for we are very low.”
13 sn Psalm 83. The psalmist asks God to deliver Israel from the attacks of foreign nations. Recalling how God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of Deborah and Gideon, he prays that the hostile nations would be humiliated.
14 tn Heb “do not be deaf.”
15 sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).
16 tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.
17 sn Psalm 95. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God as the creator of the world and the nation’s protector, but he also reminds the people not to rebel against God.
18 tn Heb “to the rocky summit of our deliverance.”
19 tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”
20 tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).
21 tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.
22 tn Heb “sunrise.”
23 tn Or “sunset.”
24 tn The Hebrew term פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, rebellious act”) is here used metonymically for the guilt such actions produce.
25 tn Or “remembers us.”
26 tn Another option is to translate the prefixed form of the verb “bless” in vv. 12-13 as a jussive, “may he bless” (see v. 14).
27 tn Heb “house.”
28 tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.
29 tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”