20:6 Now I am sure 1 that the Lord will deliver 2 his chosen king; 3
he will intervene for him 4 from his holy heavenly temple, 5
and display his mighty ability to deliver. 6
20:9 The Lord will deliver the king; 7
he will answer us 8 when we call to him for help! 9
1 tn Or “know.”
sn Now I am sure. The speaker is not identified. It is likely that the king, referring to himself in the third person (note “his chosen king”), responds to the people’s prayer. Perhaps his confidence is due to the reception of a divine oracle of salvation.
2 tn The perfect verbal form is probably used rhetorically to state that the deliverance is as good as done. In this way the speaker emphasizes the certainty of the deliverance. Another option is to take the statement as generalizing; the psalmist affirms that the
3 tn Heb “his anointed one.” This title refers to the Davidic king. See Pss 2:2 and 18:50.
4 tn Heb “he will answer him.”
5 tn Heb “from his holy heavens.”
6 tn Heb “with mighty acts of deliverance of his right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver (see Ps 17:7).
7 tc This translation assumes an emendation of the verbal form הוֹשִׁיעָה (hoshi’ah). As it stands, the form is an imperative. In this case the people return to the petitionary mood with which the psalm begins (“O
8 tn If the imperative is retained in the preceding line, then the prefixed verbal form is best taken as a jussive of prayer, “may he answer us.” However, if the imperative in the previous line is emended to a perfect, the prefixed form is best taken as imperfect, “he will answer us” (see the note on the word “king” at the end of the previous line).
9 tn Heb “in the day we call.”