3:8 The Lord delivers; 1
you show favor to your people. 2 (Selah)
6:4 Relent, Lord, rescue me! 3
Deliver me because of your faithfulness! 4
63:7 For you are my deliverer; 5
under your wings 6 I rejoice.
63:8 My soul 7 pursues you; 8
your right hand upholds me.
102:12 But you, O Lord, rule forever, 9
and your reputation endures. 10
119:4 You demand that your precepts
be carefully kept. 11
119:5 If only I were predisposed 12
to keep your statutes!
119:8 I will keep your statutes.
Do not completely abandon me! 13
119:12 You deserve praise, 14 O Lord!
Teach me your statutes!
119:20 I desperately long to know 15
your regulations at all times.
119:22 Spare me 16 shame and humiliation,
for I observe your rules.
119:28 I collapse 17 from grief.
Sustain me by your word! 18
119:45 I will be secure, 19
for I seek your precepts.
119:47 I will find delight in your commands,
which I love.
119:52 I remember your ancient regulations, 20
O Lord, and console myself. 21
119:56 This 22 has been my practice,
for I observe your precepts.
119:59 I consider my actions 23
and follow 24 your rules.
119:60 I keep your commands
eagerly and without delay. 25
119:103 Your words are sweeter
in my mouth than honey! 26
פ (Pe)
119:129 Your rules are marvelous.
Therefore I observe them.
119:139 My zeal 27 consumes 28 me,
for my enemies forget your instructions. 29
119:163 I hate and despise deceit;
I love your law.
119:167 I keep your rules;
I love them greatly.
122:2 Our feet are 30 standing
inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine 31
in the inner rooms of your house;
your children 32 will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table.
134:2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord!
138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. 33
139:20 They 34 rebel against you 35 and act deceitfully; 36
your enemies lie. 37
147:12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
1 tn Heb “to the
2 tn Heb “upon your people [is] your blessing.” In this context God’s “blessing” includes deliverance/protection, vindication, and sustained life (see Pss 21:3, 6; 24:5).
3 tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
4 sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.
5 tn Or “[source of] help.”
6 tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”
7 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).
8 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).
9 tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.
10 tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”
11 tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”
12 tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”
13 tn Heb “do not abandon me to excess.” For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (’ad mÿ’od, “to excess”), see Ps 38:6, 8.
14 tn Heb “[are] blessed.”
15 tn Heb “my soul languishes for longing for.”
16 tn Heb “roll away from upon me.” Some derive the imperatival form גַּל (gal) from גָּלָה (galah, “uncover,” as in v. 18), but here the form is from גָּלַל (galal, “roll”; see Josh 5:9, where חֶרְפָּה [kherpah, “shame; reproach”] also appears as object of the verb). Some, following the lead of a Dead Sea scroll (11QPsa), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).
17 tn Some translate “my soul weeps,” taking the verb דָלַף (dalaf) from a root meaning “to drip; to drop” (BDB 196 s.v. דֶּלַף). On the basis of cognate evidence from Arabic and Akkadian, HALOT 223 s.v. II דלף proposes a homonymic root here, meaning “be sleepless.” Following L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 127, 135) the translation assumes that the verb is cognate with Ugaritic dlp, “to collapse; to crumple” in CTA 2 iv. 17, 26. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 44, 144.
18 tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
19 tn Heb “and I will walk about in a wide place.” The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive gives a further consequence of the anticipated positive divine response (see vv. 43-44). Another option is to take the cohortative as expressing the psalmist’s request. In this case one could translate, “and please give me security.”
20 tn Heb “I remember your regulations from of old.” The prepositional phrase “from of old” apparently modifies “your regulations,” alluding to the fact that God revealed them to Israel in the distant past. Another option is to understand the prepositional phrase as modifying the verb, in which case one might translate, “I have long remembered your regulations.”
21 tn Or “find comfort.”
22 tn Heb “this has been to me.” The demonstrative “this” (1) refers back to the practices mentioned in vv. 54-55, or (2) looks forward to the statement in the second line, in which case the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the second line should be translated “that.”
23 tn Heb “my ways.”
24 tn Heb “and I turn my feet toward.”
25 tn Heb “I hurry and I do not delay to keep your commands.”
26 tn Heb “How smooth they are to my palate, your word, more than honey to my mouth.” A few medieval Hebrew
27 tn or “zeal.”
28 tn Heb “destroys,” in a hyperbolic sense.
29 tn Heb “your words.”
30 tn Or “were.”
31 sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).
32 tn One could translate “sons” (see Ps 127:3 and the note on the word “sons” there), but here the term seems to refer more generally to children of both genders.
33 tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God's mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.
34 tn Heb “who.”
35 tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).
36 tn Heb “by deceit.”
37 tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nosÿu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).