30:7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. 1
Then you rejected me 2 and I was terrified.
שׂ/שׁ (Sin/Shin)
119:161 Rulers pursue me for no reason,
yet I am more afraid of disobeying your instructions. 3
A song of ascents. 5
134:1 Attention! 6 Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve 7 in the Lord’s temple during the night.
1 tn Heb “in your good favor you caused to stand for my mountain strength.” Apparently this means “you established strength for my mountain” (“mountain” in this case representing his rule, which would be centered on Mt. Zion) or “you established strength as my mountain” (“mountain” in this case being a metaphor for security).
2 tn Heb “you hid your face.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or, as here, carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Ps 88:14).
3 tn Heb “and because of your instructions my heart trembles.” The psalmist’s healthy “fear” of the consequences of violating God’s instructions motivates him to obey them. See v. 120.
4 sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).
5 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.
6 tn Heb “Look!”
7 tn Heb “stand.”