61:4 I will be a permanent guest in your home; 1
I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. 2 (Selah)
61:6 Give the king long life!
Make his lifetime span several generations! 3
61:7 May he reign 4 forever before God!
Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. 5
1 tn Heb “I will live as a resident alien in your tent permanently.” The cohortative is understood here as indicating resolve. Another option is to take it as expressing a request, “please let me live” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
2 sn I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
3 tn Heb “days upon days of the king add, his years like generation and generation.”
sn It is not certain if the (royal) psalmist is referring to himself in the third person in this verse, or if an exile is praying on behalf of the king.
4 tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.
5 tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”