39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!
Listen to my cry for help!
Do not ignore my sobbing! 1
For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;
I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. 2
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song 4 by David.
55:1 Listen, O God, to my prayer!
Do not ignore 5 my appeal for mercy!
85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. 6
For he will make 7 peace with his people, his faithful followers. 8
Yet they must not 9 return to their foolish ways.
1 tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”
2 tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”
sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.
3 sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies.
4 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.
5 tn Heb “hide yourself from.”
6 sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.
7 tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).
8 tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.
9 tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.